Judgment of the Court (Ninth Chamber) of 6 March 2014 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunale di Trento (Italy)) – Lorenzo Amatori and Others v Telecom Italia SpA, Telecom Italia Information Technology Srl
(Case C-458/12) 1
(Request for a preliminary ruling – Social policy – Transfer of undertakings – Safeguarding of employees’ rights – Directive 2001/23/EC – Transfer of employment relationships in the event of a legal transfer of part of a business that cannot be identified as a pre-existing autonomous economic entity)
Language of the case: Italian
Referring court
Tribunale di Trento
Parties to the main proceedings
Applicants: Lorenzo Amatori, Adrian Gottardi
Defendants: Telecom Italia SpA, Telecom Italia Information Technology Srl
Re:
Request for a preliminary ruling – Tribunale di Trento – Interpretation of Article 1(1)(a) and (b) and Article 3(1) of Council Directive 2001/23/EC of 12 March 2001 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 (OJ 2001 L 82, p. 16) – Transfer to another undertaking, on the basis of an agreement, of a part of a business which cannot be identified as a pre-existing independent economic entity and over which, after the transfer, the transferring undertaking will exercise dominant control through commercial relations and a sharing of business risk – National rules under which the taking over of employment relations is not conditional upon the consent of the employees transferred.
Operative part of the judgment
Article 1(1)(a) and (b) of Council Directive 2001/23/EC of 12 March 2001 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 must be interpreted as meaning that it does not preclude national legislation, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, which, on the transfer of part of the undertaking, permits the transferee to take over the employment relationship from the transferor if that part of the undertaking does not constitute a functionally autonomous economic entity existing before the transfer.
Article 1(1)(a) and (b) must be interpreted as not precluding national legislation, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, which enables the transferee to take over the employment relationships from the transferor if, after the transfer of part of an undertaking concerned exercises extensive, overriding powers over the transferee.
____________1 OJ C 389, 15.12.2012