Internet and telephone connection for the works council

According to Section 40 Paragraph 2 BetrVG, the employer must, among other things, provide the works council with the necessary information and communication technology and office staff. With a recent decision dated April 20, 2016, the Federal Labor Court has now drawn an important limit for the works council's claim in this regard.
Basically, “information and communication technology” (of course) includes an appropriate telephone and an Internet connection. This is now more or less undisputed. To put it simply, the works council can require the employer to use telephone and internet at the standard level of equipment provided in the company. The case law of the Federal Labor Court still allows theoretical exceptions, particularly for Internet use, if the employer's “legitimate interests” conflict with this. Such legitimate concerns can be, for example, the concrete possibility of endangering special confidentiality interests or the concrete risk of misuse of the Internet. In practice, however, there are hardly any cases conceivable in which these exceptions are met.
But can works councils, for their part, argue that they fear misuse of technical control options by the employer and therefore need a telephone connection that is independent of the employer's telephone system and internet access that is independent of the employer's server? This was the subject of the aforementioned procedure, which has now been decided by the Federal Labor Court.
The answer is: no.
The Federal Labor Court confirmed its previous case law, according to which the works council can request a telephone connection and, in the absence of conflicting legitimate interests on the part of the employer, also internet access (and also the setting up of its own email addresses). Contrary to older case law, the works council does not have to state its necessity for the performance of specific works council tasks. However, the Federal Labor Court rejected the works council's demand that it needs its own information and communication technology that is independent of the employer, because otherwise it could be "spyed on" by the employer. The mere assertion of an abstract risk of misuse of technical control options by the employer is not sufficient. The employer regularly fulfills its obligations to provide telephone and Internet access by providing the works council with a telephone connection as part of its existing system as well as Internet access and e-mail communication via the network that is used uniformly for all workplaces in the company. The works council's application to set up its own system-independent telephone system and its own Internet connection was rejected.
The decision of the Federal Labor Court is correct in every respect and to be welcomed. By improperly monitoring the works council, the employer would be seriously violating both his personal rights and his obligations under works constitution law. In principle, it can be assumed that employers will behave legally in this respect. Simply based on a “general suspicion” expressed by the works council, it is not justified to impose an obligation on the employer to create an independent telephone connection and its own internet network for the works council.
Press release from the Federal Labor Court:
http://juris.bundesarbeitsgericht.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprachung/document.py?Gericht=bag&Art=pm&Datum=2016&nr=18634&pos=0&anz=18&title=Zugang_zum_Internet_und_ Telefonleitung_für_den_Betriebsrat#druck