COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
COM(92) 127 final 
Brussels, 31 March 1992 
Amended proposal for a 
COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 
amending Directive 75/129/EEC on the approximation of the laws 
of the Member States relating to collective redundancies 
(presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 149(3) 
of the EEC Treaty) 
Jl'liiiJig 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 
The European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee have 
delivered opinions on the proposal for a Council Directive amending 
Directive 75/129/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member 
States relating to collective redundancies. The amended proposal which 
the Commission is now submitting to the Council under Article 149(3) of 
the EEC Treaty takes account of Parliament's amendments approved on 10 
March 1992 and the Economic and Social Committee's opinion adopted on 30 
January 1992. A number of technical improvements have been added in the 
interests of legal certainty and consistency. 
Article 1 
Paragraph 1 
New subparagraph (a) 
Parliament was concerned at the fact that employment contracts terminated 
for reasons other than redundancy were not covered by this Article. This 
concern appears to be well founded, especially since the procedure for 
informing and consulting workers' representatives is geared specifically 
to avoiding or reducing redundancies, with the result that alternative 
ways of ending or suspending the employment relationship frequently have 
to be negotiated with workers and their representatives (voluntary 
resignation, early retirement, etc.). 
The Directive covers not only "dismissals" in the legal sense of the term 
but also job losses in other circumstances (as indicated by the use of 
the term "redundancy" in the English version). 
It is proposed that Article 1(1)(a) be amended in order to clarify what 
is meant by collective redundancy, in line with the above reasoning. 
% 
Article 2 
In the light of Parliament's opinion, the Commission is in favour of 
introducing two amendments to this provision, one aimed at enabling 
workers' representatives to call on the assistance of technical experts 
during consultations and the other designed to incorporate, as a minimum 
requirement in terms of information and consultation, a reference to 
social measures to facilitate the rehabilitation, redeployment, and 
social and occupational reintegration of workers to be made redundant. 
2 
Amended proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 75/129/EEC on 
the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to collective 
redundancies(*)(2). 
ORIGINAL TEXT PROPOSED AMENDMENTS 
Proposal for a Council Directive 
amending Directive 75/129/EEC on the 
approximation of the laws of the 
Member States relating to collective 
redundanc ies Amended proposal for a Council 
Directive amending Directive 
75/129/EEC on the approximation 
of the laws of the Member States 
relating to collective 
redundancies 
The Council of the European 
Communities, 
Having regard to the Treaty 
establishing the European Economic 
Community, and in particular Article 
100 thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from 
the Commission^), 
Having regard to the opinion of the 
European Par1iament(2), 
Having regard to the opinion of the 
Economic and Social Committee^), 
Whereas the Community Charter of the 
Fundamental Social Rights of Workers 
states in paragraph 7 that "the 
completion of the internal market 
must lead to an improvement in the 
living and working conditions of 
workers in the European Community... 
The improvement must cover, where 
necessary, the development of 
certain aspects of employment 
regulations such as procedures for 
collective redundancies..."; The Council of the European 
Communities, 
Unchanged 
Unchanged 
Unchanged 
Unchanged 
Unchanged 
(1) OJ.C - /90, 
(2) - The left-hand column contains the text of the existing Directive 
(75/129/EEC) combined with the proposal for a Directive amending it 
(COM(91) 292 final). The proposed amendments are underlined. 
- The right-hand column contains the amendments (underlined) now 
proposed by the Commission. 
(1) 
(2) 
(3) 
U 
Whereas paragraphs 17 and 18 also 
state that "information, 
consultation and participation for 
workers must be developed along 
appropriate lines, taking account of 
the practices in force in the 
various Member States... Such 
information, consultation and 
participation must be implemented in 
due time, particularly ... in cases 
of collective redundancy 
procedures..."; Unchanged 
Whereas Council Directive 75/129/EEC 
(4) promoted the harmonization of 
the relevant national laws by 
requiring employers who are 
contemplating collective 
redundancies to inform and consult 
workers' representatives with a 
view to reaching an agreement and 
to notify the competent public 
authorities; Unchanged 
Whereas employers must comply 
with the obligations arising 
from the Directive when the 
stipulated quantitative 
thresholds are reached, whether 
as a result of redundancy or in 
the event of job reductions 
requiring the undertaking to 
terminate employment contracts 
in other ways. 
Whereas, as the establishment of 
the internal market is resulting in 
a growing concentration of 
undertakings across national 
frontiers, the decisions leading to 
collective redundancies may be 
taken by an undertaking other than 
the employer; Unchanged 
(4) 
S 
Initial Commission proposal Amended proposal 
Whereas Directive 75/129/EEC should 
therefore be revised so as to ensure 
that the existing information, 
consultation and notification 
requirements are complied with 
irrespective of whether the decision 
leading to collective redundancies 
is taken by the employer, by the 
controlling undertaking or by the 
central administration of an 
undertaking of which the employer is 
part; Unchanged 
Whereas, with a view to ensuring 
that this Directive has the desired 
effect, account should not be taken 
of any defence on the ground that 
the employer was not provided in 
time with the relevant information 
by the controlling undertaking which 
takes the decision leading to 
collective redundancies; Unchanged 
Whereas the information and 
consultation rights of workers laid 
down by Directive 75/129/EEC should 
also apply to crews of sea-going 
vessels unless they benefit from 
equivalent protection, and to 
collective redundancies effected 
where an establishment's activities 
are terminated as a result of a 
judicial decision; Unchanged 
Whereas, in view of the 
technical complexity of the 
matters in respect of which 
workers' representatives are to 
be informed and consulted, they 
should have the right to call on 
the assistance of experts. 
Whereas it is desirable that 
workers' representatives should 
also be informed and consulted 
on social measures to facilitate 
the rehabilitation and 
redeployment of workers to be 
made redundant. 
£ 
Initial Commission proposal 
Whereas a number of clarifications 
and amendments are required in 
respect of the timing and objectives 
of consultations and the nature of 
the information to be supplied to 
workers' representatives and to the 
public authorities, reflecting, 
inter alia, the corresponding 
provisions of Council Directive 
77/187/EEc(5> and ILO Convention 
158 and Recommendation 166; 
Whereas, in order to allow for more 
flexibility with respect to small 
undertakings, Member States need not 
provide for workers' representatives 
in establishments employing less 
than 50 workers; 
Whereas it is necessary to provide 
for appropriate measures to ensure 
the enforcement of obligations laid 
down by this Directive and in 
particular for judicial procedures 
to render null and void collective 
redundancies effected without 
compliance with the above-mentioned 
obligations; 
Whereas Directive 75/129/EEC should 
be amended accordingly, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE Amended proposal 
Unchanged 
Unchanged 
Unchanged 
Unchanged 
(5) 
1-
SECTION I 
Definitions and scope 
Article 1 
1. For the purposes of this 
Directive: Unchanged 
(a), 'collective redundancies' means 
dismissals effected by an 
employer for one or more 
reasons not related to the 
individual workers concerned, 
where, according to the choice 
of the Member States, the 
number of redundancies is: 'collective redundancies' means 
all instances in which 
employment contracts are 
terminated on the employer's 
initiative for one or more 
reasons not related to the 
individual workers concerned 
where, according to the choice 
of the Member States, the number 
of such instances is: 
either, over a period of 30 
days, 
at least 10 in establishments 
normally employing more than 20 
and less than 100 workers, 
at least 10% of the number of 
workers in establishments 
normally employing at least 100 
but less than 300 workers, 
at least 30 in establishments 
normally employing 300 workers 
or more. Unchanged 
or, over a period of 90 days, at 
least 20, whatever the number of 
workers normally employed in the 
establishments in question. 
(b) 'workers' representatives* means 
the workers' representatives 
provided for by the laws or 
practices of the Member States. Unchanged 
(c) 'employer' means any natural or 
legal person who has an 
employment relationship with the 
worker. Unchanged 
1 
2. This Directive shall not apply 
to: Unchanged 
(a) collective redundancies effected 
under contracts of employment 
concluded for limited periods of 
time or for specific tasks, except 
where such redundancies take place 
prior to the date of expiry or the 
completion of such contracts; 
(b) workers employed by public 
administrative bodies or by 
establishments governed by public 
law (or, in Member States where this 
concept is unknown, by equivalent 
bodies); 
(c) the crews of sea-going vessels, 
inasmuch as the special regime 
covering them provides protection 
equivalent to that resulting from 
this Directive. 
3. Member States need not apply 
Article 4 to collective redundancies 
resulting from the termination of an 
establishment's activities where 
that is the result of a judicial 
decision. 
SECTION II 
Information and consultation 
Article 2 
1. Where an employer is 
contemplating collective 
redundancies, he shall begin 
consultations with the workers' 
representatives in good time with a 
view to reaching an agreement. Unchanged 
3 
2. These consultations shall, at 
least, cover ways and means of 
avoiding collective redundancies or 
minimizing the number of workers 
affected, and mitigating the 
consequences. 2. These consultations shall, at 
least, cover ways and means of 
avoiding collective redundancies 
or minimizing the number of 
workes affected, and mitigating 
the consequences. Workers' 
representatives may call on the 
assistance of technical experts. 
Article 2(3) 
3. To enable the workers' 
representatives to make 
constructive proposals the 
employer shall supply them in 
good time with all relevant 
information and shall in any 
event give in writing the reasons 
for the projected redundancies, 
the number of workers normally 
emp1oyed, the employer's 
proposals with regard to the 
number and categories of workers 
to be made redundant, the 
criteria proposed for the 
selection of the workers to be 
made redundant and the 
calculation of any redundancy 
payments, and the period over 
which the projected redundancies 
are to be effected. 
The employer shall forward to the 
competent public authority a copy 
of all the written communications 
referred to in the preceding 
subparaph. 3. To enable the workers' 
representatives to make 
constructive proposals the 
employer shall, in good time, 
during the consultations: 
a) supply them with all 
relevant information and 
b) in any event give in 
writing: 
- the reasons for the projected 
redundancies, 
- the number and categories of 
workers to be made redundant, 
- the number and categories of 
workers normally employed, 
-the criteria proposed for the 
selection of the workers to be 
made redundant 
- the period over which the 
projected redundancies are to be 
effected, 
- the method of calculating any 
redundancy payments, 
- accompanying social measures 
geared, inter alia, to assisting 
the rehabilitation, redeployment 
and social and vocational 
reintegration of the workers to 
be made redundant. 
The employer shall forward to 
the competent public authority a 
copy of all the written 
communications referred to in 
the preceding subparagraph. 
j<o 
Unchanged 
4. The obligations laid down in 
paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 5 shall 
apply irrespective of whether the 
decision regarding collective 
redundancies is being taken by 
the employer or by an undertaking 
controlling the employer. 
In considering alleged breaches 
of the information, consultation 
and notification requirements 
laid down by this Directive, 
account shall not be taken of any 
defence on the grounds that the 
necessary information has not 
been provided by the undertaking 
which took the decision leading 
to collective redundancies. 
5. For the purposes of 
implementation of this Directive, 
Member States need not provide 
for workers' representatives in 
respect of establishments 
normally employing less than 50 
workers. In such cases, Member 
States shall ensure that 
employers are obliged to supply 
in good time to the workers 
affected by the projected 
collective redundancies the same 
information as is required to be 
given to workers' representatives 
under paragraph 3. Unchanged 
A 
SECTION III 
Procedure for collective 
redundancies 
Article 3 
1. Employers shall notify the 
competent public authority in 
writing of any projected 
collective redundancies. Unchanged 
This notification shall contain all 
relevant information concerning the 
projected collective redundancies 
and the consultations with workers' 
representatives provided for in 
Article 2, and particularly the 
reasons for the redundancies, the 
number of workers to be made 
redundant, the number of workers 
normally employed and the period 
over which the redundancies are to 
be effected. 
2. Employers shall forward to the 
workers' representatives a copy 
of the notification provided for 
in paragraph 1. Unchanged 
The workers' representatives may 
send any comments they may have to 
the competent public authority. 
4% 
Article 4 
1. Projected collective redundancies 
notified to the competent public 
authority shall take effect not 
earlier than 30 days after the 
notification referred to in 
Article 3(1) without prejudice to 
any provisions governing 
individual rights with regard to 
notice of dismissal. Unchanged 
Member States may grant the 
competent public authority the 
power to reduce the period 
provided for in the preceding 
subparagraph. 
2. The period provided for in 
paragraph 1 shall be used by the 
competent public authority to 
seek solutions to the problems 
raised by the projected 
collective redundancies. Unchanged 
3. Where the initial period provided 
for in paragraph 1 is shorter 
than 60 days, Member States may 
grant the competent public 
authority the power to extend the 
initial period to 60 days 
following notification where the 
problems raised by the projected 
collective redundancies are not 
likely to be solved within the 
initial period. 
Member States may grant the 
competent public authority wider 
powers of extension. 
The employer must be informed of 
the extension and the grounds for 
it before expiry of the initial 
period provided for in paragraph 
1. Unchanged 
m 
SECTION IV 
Final provisions 
Article 5 
This Directive shall not affect the 
right of Member States to apply or 
introduce laws, regulations or 
administrative provisions which are 
more favourable to workers or to 
promote or allow the application of 
collective agreements more 
favourable to workers. Unchanged 
Article 5a 
Member States shall ensure that 
judicial procedures exist for the 
enforcement of obligations under 
this Directive at the suit of the 
workers' representatives and workers 
and in particular procedures 
rendering null and void the 
collective redundancies concerned, 
notwithstanding the availability of 
recourse to other procedures. Unchanged 
Article 6 Unchanged 
Member States shall bring into 
force the laws, regulations and 
administrative provisions 
necessary to comply with this 
Directive by 31 December 1992, or 
shall ensure that the social 
partners establish the necessary 
provisions through agreement, 
subject to the obligation on 
Member States to take all the 
necessary measures to guarantee 
compliance at all times with the 
requirements of this Directive. 
W 
2. Member States shall communicate Unchanged 
to the Commission the texts of 
the laws, regulations and 
administrative provisions which 
they adopt in the field covered 
by this Directive. 
When Member States adopt the Unchanged 
provisions referred to in 
paragraph 1, these shall contain a 
reference to this Directive or 
shall be accompanied by such 
reference at the time of their 
official publication. The 
procedure for such reference shall 
be adopted by Member States. 
3. Member States shall immediately Unchanged 
inform the Commission of the 
measures adopted to comply with 
this Directive. 
Article 7 
Within two years following expiry of Unchanged 
the two-year period laid down in 
Article 6, Member States shall 
forward all relevant information to 
the Commission to enable it to draw 
up a report for submission to the 
Council on the application of this 
Directive. 
Article 8 
This Directive is addressed to the Unchanged 
Member States. 
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ISSN 0254-1475 
COM(92) 127 final 
DOCUMENTS 
EN 04 06 
Catalogue number: CB-CO-92-139-EN-C 
ISBN 92-77-42450-8 
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities 
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