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In those circumstances, the Bundesarbeitsgericht (Federal Labour Court) decided to stay proceedings and refer the following questions to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling: ‘(1) Does Article 3(4) of Directive 2001/23 allow – in the event of a transfer of a business after the opening of insolvency proceedings under national law, which, in principle, also requires the application of Article 3(1) and (3) of [Directive 2001/23] to employees’ rights to old-age, invalidity or survivors’ benefits under supplementary occupational or inter-occupational pension schemes – a restriction to the effect that the transferee is not liable for rights conferring prospective entitlements based on periods of service completed prior to the opening of the insolvency proceedings? (2) If Question 1 is answered in the affirmative: In the event of a transfer of a business after insolvency proceedings regarding the assets of the transferor have been opened, are the measures necessary pursuant to Article 3(4)(b) of Directive 2001/23 to protect the interests of employees in respect of rights conferring on them immediate or prospective entitlement to old-age benefits under supplementary occupational or inter‑occupational pension schemes to be based on the level of protection required by Article 8 of Directive 2008/94? (3) If Question 2 is answered in the negative, Is Article 3(4)(b) of Directive 2001/23 to be interpreted as meaning that the measures necessary to protect the interests of employees in respect of rights conferring on them immediate or prospective entitlement to old-age benefits under supplementary occupational or inter-occupational pension schemes have been taken if the national law provides that – the obligation to provide in the future the employee affected by the transfer of an undertaking in the course of insolvency proceedings with old-age benefits under supplementary occupational or inter‑occupational pension schemes is normally transferred to the transferee of the business, – the transferee is liable for rights to future pension entitlements to the extent that they are based on periods of service with the undertaking completed after insolvency proceedings are instituted, – in that case, the insolvency insurance institution designated under national law does not have to assume liability for the part of the future rights acquired before the insolvency proceedings had been opened, and – the employee may claim, in the insolvency proceedings of the transferor, the value of the portion of his or her future rights acquired before the insolvency proceedings had been opened? (4) If, in the event of a transfer of an undertaking during insolvency proceedings, the national legislation also requires the application of Article 3 and Article 4 of Directive 2001/23, is Article 5(2)(a) of Directive 2001/23 applicable to employees’ rights conferring prospective entitlement under supplementary occupational or inter‑occupational pension schemes that accrued before the insolvency proceedings had been opened, but do not confer eligibility to those benefits on the employee until the occurrence of the pensionable event and therefore not until a later point in time? (5) If the second or the fourth question referred are answered in the affirmative: Does the minimum level of protection to be provided by the Member States pursuant to Article 8 of Directive 2008/94 … also include the obligation to guarantee rights conferring prospective entitlements to pension benefits that under national law did not yet statutorily confer immediate entitlement when the insolvency proceedings were opened and that became so only because the termination of the employment relationship was not linked to the insolvency proceedings? (6) If the fifth question referred is answered in the affirmative: Under what circumstances can a former employee’s losses suffered in respect of old-age pension benefits under a supplementary occupational pension scheme as a result of the insolvency of the employer be regarded as manifestly disproportionate and therefore oblige the Member States to ensure a minimum degree of protection against such losses pursuant to Article 8 of Directive 2008/94, even though the employee will receive at least half of the benefits that will arise from the pension rights that he has acquired? (7) If the fifth question referred is answered in the affirmative: Is the protection for employees’ pension rights to old-age benefits conferring prospective entitlement, that is necessary pursuant to Article 3(4)(b) or Article 5 of Directive 2001/23 (equivalent to that of Article 8 of Directive 2008/94), also accorded if it does not arise from national law, but rather only from direct application of Article 8 of Directive 2008/94? (8) If the seventh question referred is answered in the affirmative: Does Article 8 of Directive 2008/94 also have direct effect, such that it can be relied on before the national courts by an individual employee if, although he receives at least half of the pension rights that he has acquired, his losses suffered as a result of the insolvency of the employer are nevertheless to be regarded as disproportionate? (9) If the eighth question referred is answered in the affirmative: Is a body governed by private law that the Member State has designated – in a manner that is binding on employers – as an insolvency insurance institution for occupational pensions, that is subject to State supervision of financial services and that levies the contributions required for insolvency insurance from employers under public law, and, like a public authority, can establish the conditions for enforcement by way of an administrative act, a public authority of the Member State?’