Official Journal of the European Union

(Case C-466/07) (Social policy - Directive 2001/23/EC - Transfer of undertakings - Safeguarding of employees' rights - Concept of legal transfer - Legal transfer of a part of a business to another undertaking - Organisational autonomy following the transfer)

(2009/C 82/08)

Language of the case: German

Referring court

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Dietmar Klarenberg

Defendant: Ferrotron Technologies GmbH

Re:

Reference for a preliminary ruling — Landesarbeitsgericht Düsseldorf — Interpretation of Article 1(1)(a) and (b) of Council Directive 2001/23/EC of 12 March 2001 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the safeguarding of employees' rights in the event of transfers of undertakings, businesses or parts of undertakings or businesses (OJ 2001 L 82, p. 16) — Applicability of Directive 2001/23/EC in the event of a legal transfer of a part of a business to another undertaking which integrates, into its organisational structure, the part of the business that has been transferred without preserving the latter's organisational autonomy — Concept of ‘transfer’ for the purposes of Directive 2001/23/EC

Operative part of the judgment

Article 1(1)(a) and (b) of Council Directive 2001/23/EC of 12 March 2001 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the safeguarding of employees' rights in the event of transfers of undertakings, businesses or parts of undertakings or businesses must be interpreted as meaning that that directive may also apply in a situation where the part of the undertaking or business transferred does not retain its organisational autonomy, provided that the functional link between the various elements of production transferred is preserved, and that that link enables the transferee to use those elements to pursue an identical or analogous economic activity, a matter which it is for the national court to determine.

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(1) OJ C 8, 8.12.2008.