Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2010:689
Date: 2010-11-17
Language of the case: French
Subject matter: Social Policy
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: France

Summary of the Judgment Social policy – Approximation of laws – Protection of employees in the event of the insolvency of their employer – Directive 80/987 – Payment of the claims of employees having been employed in a Member State other than that in which their employer is established – Competent guarantee institution (Council Directive 80/987, Art. 3) Article 3 of Directive 80/987 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the protection of employees in the event of the insolvency of their employer, in the version thereof as it existed before being amended by Directive 2002/74, is to be interpreted as meaning that, for the payment of the outstanding claims of workers having been habitually employed in a Member State other than that where their employer is established, when the employer was declared insolvent before 8 October 2005 and that employer is not established in that other Member State and fulfils its obligation to contribute to the financing of the guarantee institution in the Member State where it is established, it is that institution that is liable for the obligations defined by that article. Directive 80/987 does not preclude a Member State’s legislation from providing that employees may avail themselves of the salary guarantee from that Member State’s institution in accordance with its law, either in addition to or instead of the guarantee offered by the institution designated as competent under that directive, provided however that that guarantee results in a greater level of worker protection. (see para. 34, operative part)