Case C-706/22, Konzernbetriebsrat: Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 16 May 2024 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Bundesarbeitsgericht – Germany) – Konzernbetriebsrat der O SE & Co. KG v Vorstand der O Holding SE (Reference for a preliminary ruling – European company – Regulation (EC) No 2157/2001 – Article 12(2) – Involvement of employees – Registration of the European company – Conditions – Prior implementation of the negotiation procedure on the involvement of employees referred to in Directive 2001/86/EC – European company which was established and registered without employees but which became the parent company of subsidiaries employing employees – No obligation to conduct a negotiation procedure retrospectively – Article 11 – Misuse of a European company – Deprivation of the rights of employees to employee involvement – Prohibition)
Date: 2024-05-16
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: European company, head office, holding company, labour relations, registration of a company, subsidiary, transfer of businesses, wage earner








C_202403883EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2024/3883


1.7.2024






Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 16 May 2024 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Bundesarbeitsgericht – Germany) – Konzernbetriebsrat der O SE & Co. KG v Vorstand der O Holding SE


(Case C-706/22,
                (1)
Konzernbetriebsrat)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - European company - Regulation (EC) No 2157/2001 - Article 12(2) - Involvement of employees - Registration of the European company - Conditions - Prior implementation of the negotiation procedure on the involvement of employees referred to in Directive 2001/86/EC - European company which was established and registered without employees but which became the parent company of subsidiaries employing employees - No obligation to conduct a negotiation procedure retrospectively - Article 11 - Misuse of a European company - Deprivation of the rights of employees to employee involvement - Prohibition)
(C/2024/3883)
Language of the case: German

Referring court

Bundesarbeitsgericht

Parties to the main proceedings


Appellant on a point of law: Konzernbetriebsrat der O SE & Co. KG

Respondent: Vorstand der O Holding SE

Operative part of the judgment

Article 12(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 2157/2001 of 8 October 2001 on the Statute for a European company (SE), in conjunction with Articles 3 to 7 of Council Directive 2001/86/EC of 8 October 2001 supplementing the Statute for a European company with regard to the involvement of employees,
must be interpreted as
not requiring, where a holding European company (SE), formed by participating companies which do not employ employees, and do not have subsidiaries employing employees, is registered without negotiations on the involvement of employees having first been conducted, the subsequent opening of those negotiations on the ground that that SE has acquired control of subsidiaries in one or more Member States which employ employees.


(1)  
            OJ C 71, 27.2.2023.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/3883/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)