Case C-55/02, Commission of the European Commission v. Portuguese Republic; Case C-188/03, Imtraud Junk v. Wolfgang Kühnel

Publishers Abstract:
On Oct 12, 2004 and Jan 27, 2005, the Court of Justice ruled on, respectively, an infringement action and a preliminary reference regarding Council Directive 98/59 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to collective redundancies. Both judgments clarify the meaning of 'collective redundancies'. Commission v. Portuguese Republic broadens the ambit of the CR Directive. Junk v. Kuhnel affects the chronological order of the consultation and notification procedures. The Court stated the CR Directive does not give an express definition of redundancy. But the CR Directive quite clearly describes redundancy as a dismissal effected by an employer for one or more reasons not related to the individual worker concerned. Member States will have to provide an effective, dissuasive and proportionate sanction to guarantee that collective redundancies imposed in violation of the information and consultation procedure will not take effect. The most effective remedy might be to suspend the collective redundancy.