This book is a response to the 2003 report of the European Parliament on asset formation, which called on the Commission to undertake studies focusing on specific questions, e.g., the feasibility of financial participation in small and medium-sized enterprises, or the possibility of implementing share ownership schemes based on the British and Irish ESOP model (Employee Stock Ownership Plans) in other EU Member States. 

It has been published in English, German, French, Italian, Polish and Russian.

The book is divided into two parts. The first gives a summary of the development of employee financial participation in the EU-27; an overview of the situation across the Member States and Candidate countries as of 2007; and a proposal for a policy towards a European Platform for Financial Participation, i.e., the “Building Block Approach” which draws upon the experience of employee financial participation in Western Europe as it relates to the European integration process. The second part consists of four annexes covering the following issues: the U.S. ESOP as an example of an advanced model; the legal framework for implementation of financial participation at a supranational level including tax incentives; a systematic overview of financial participation; and background information on the functional changes in property rights in Europe.