Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2017:30
Date: 2017-01-19
Language of the case: German
Subject matter: Social Policy;Fundamental rights;European Convention on Human Rights
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Germany

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber), 27 April 2017 Social policy — Approximation of laws — Transfers of undertakings — Safeguarding of employees' rights — Directive 2001/23 — Rights and obligations within the meaning of Article 3 — Individual contract of employment referring to a collective agreement — National legislation authorising the conclusion of clauses collective labour agreements subsequent to the date of the transfer — Lawfulness — Condition — Obligation for the national law to provide for the possibility for the transferee to make adjustments both consensually and unilaterally (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 16; Council Directive 2001/23, Art. 3) Article 3 of Council Directive 2001/23/EC 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, and Article 16 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union must be interpreted as meaning that, in the case of a transfer of a business, the continued observance of the rights and obligations of the transferor arising from a contract of employment extends to the clause which the transferor and the worker agreed pursuant to the principle of freedom of contract, and pursuant to which their employment relationship is governed not only by the collective agreement in force on the date of the transfer but also by agreements subsequent to the transfer and which supplement it, amend it or replace it, if the national law provides for the possibility for the transferee to make adjustments both consensually and unilaterally. (see para. 29, operative part)