Employee ownership has existed in many forms for centuries. Not only is it alive and well, but it is often extremely successful; on average, employee-owned businesses prove to be more productive, more friendly to the local environment and community, and most importantly, they provide better working conditions and pay for their employees. 

It is true, however, that employee-owned companies rarely step out of the shadows of corporate structures, which is why it is all too often assumed that such companies are not efficient and cannot be successful. There are many reasons for the lack of employee-owned companies, but mainly institutional reasons. 

Where there are favourable tax laws, financial incentives and the like, encouraging stakeholders to set up employee-owned businesses or transfer shares to workers, such businesses flourish. The best example is the ESOP in the US, which has grown to 7000 companies and 14.4 million private sector workers, about which we have written long and widely. 

In recent years, we have also seen a major shift in legislative measures to promote employee ownership in some other countries. Decision-makers have realised that promoting participative forms of ownership in the economy is not only a very good business strategy for the individual country, but also a very socially responsible decision. 

In 2014, the UK followed the US example and created tax breaks for owners who sell their shares to Employee Ownership Trusts. Over the last six years, we have seen a huge growth of employee-owned businesses in the UK - on average, 100 businesses are transferred to employee trusts every year.  

Canada has recently followed suit. At the initiative of Social Capital Partners, partners of the Ontario ED Institute, the government has set aside millions of dollars in its annual budget to explore options and establish schemes to promote employee ownership.  

Additional measures in this area are also being taken in the US. Senators in the US Congress proposed these at the end of May 2021. WORK Act, which would provide $50 million over four years to promote employee ownership in the states and create a dedicated Employee Ownership Branch within the US Department of Labour.  

The proposal is a defensive response to foreign equity investments, mainly Chinese, which buy up US capital and prevent surplus value from staying on US soil. This motivation is why it is supported by both Republicans and Democrats. 

We need to think about similar measures in continental Europe to protect the interests of the European economy, the European entrepreneur and the European worker. The first opportunity to take a serious step towards protecting the Slovenian economy is our proposal for an 'Employee Ownership Cooperative Act', which will be considered by the National Assembly later this summer or early autumn.  

Is Slovenia ready to take this important step, which will see the world's most advanced economies walking, or will we once again be stuck in place and running when it is too late?