Request for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunal du travail de Liège (Belgium) lodged on 11 July 2023 – AE. CO, DU and Others v BA, EP and RI, acting as insolvency administrators of Wibra België SA, Wibra België SRL

(Case C-431/23, Wibra België)

Language of the case: French

Referring court

Tribunal du travail de Liège

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicants: AE, CO, DU and Others

Defendants: BA, EP and RI, acting as insolvency administrators of Wibra België SA, Wibra België SRL

Other parties to the proceedings: VT, HL, MO and Others

Question referred

Must Article 5(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 ¹ be interpreted as meaning that the condition which it lays down, according to which Articles 3 and 4 of that directive are not to apply to the transfer of an undertaking where the transferor is the subject of bankruptcy proceedings or any analogous insolvency proceedings instituted with a view to the liquidation of the assets of the transferor, is not satisfied where the transfer of all or part of an undertaking is prepared prior to the opening of insolvency proceedings with a view to the liquidation of the assets of the transferor, in the present case in the context of proceedings for judicial restructuring ending in a transfer agreement approval of which is refused by the competent court but which is then carried out immediately after the declaration of insolvency, outside the application of any statutory or regulatory provisions under national law?

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¹ OJ 2001 L 82, p. 16.