According to European Union (EU) legislation, rights and obligations arising from a contract of employment or from an employment relationship existing on the date of a transfer shall, by reason of such transfer, be transferred to the transferee. Following the transfer, the transferee has the obligation to continue to observe the terms and conditions agreed in any collective agreement on the same terms applicable to the transferor under that agreement, until the date of termination of the collective agreement or the entry into force or application of another collective agreement. EU Member States may limit the period for observing such terms and conditions, with the provision that it shall not be less than one year. The transfer of an undertaking, business or part of a business shall not in itself constitute grounds for dismissal by the transferor or the transferee. This provision shall not stand in the way of dismissals that may take place for economic, technical or organizational reasons entailing changes in the workforce. If the contract of employment or the employment relationship is terminated because the transfer is a legal transfer or merger and involves a substantial change in working conditions to the detriment of the worker, the employer shall be regarded as having been responsible for termination of the contract of employment or of the employment relationship. If the business preserves its autonomy, status and function, as laid down by the laws, regulations or administrative provisions of the EU Member State, the representatives or representation of the workers affected by the transfer shall be preserved. If the term of office of the representatives of the workers affected by a transfer expires as a result of the transfer, the representatives shall continue to enjoy the protection provided by the laws, regulations, administrative provisions or practice of the Member States. See: Directive 2001/23/EC of 12 March 2001. See: Transfer of undertaking (safeguarding of employees’ rights); Transferee; Transferor. Treaties: European integration is based on four founding treaties: (1) the Coal Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), which was signed on 18 April 1951 in Paris, entered into force on 23 July 1952 and expired on 23 July 2002; (2) the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (EEC); (3) The Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), which was signed (along with the EEC Treaty) in Rome on 25 March 1957, and entered into force on 1 January 1958. These Treaties are often referred to as the “Treaties of Rome”. When the term “Treaty of Rome” is used, only the EEC Treaty is meant; (4) The Treaty on European Union, which was signed in Maastricht on 7 February 1992, and entered into force on 1 November 1993. The Maastricht Treaty changed the name of the European Economic Community to simply “the European Community”. It also introduced new forms of cooperation between the Member State governments – for example on defence, and in the area of justic and home affairs. By adding this intergovernmental cooperation to the existing Community system, the Maastricht Treaty created a new structure with three pillars, which is political as well as economic. This is the European Union (EU). The founding treaties have been amended on several occasions, in particular when new Member States acceded. There have also been more far-reaching reforms bringing major institutional changes and introducing new areas of responsibility for the European institutions: (1) the Merger Treaty, signed in Brussels on 8 April 1965 and in force since 1 July 1967, provided for a Single Commission and a Single Council of the then three European Communities; (2) the Single European Act (SEA), signed in Luxembourg and The Hague, and entered into force on 1 July 1987, provided for the adaptations required for the achievement of the Internal Market; (3) The Treaty of Amsterdam, signed on 2 October 1997 and entered into force on 1 May 1999: it amended and renumbered the EU and EC Treaties. Consolidated versions of these two treaties are attached to it. The measures introduced were discussed during the 1996 Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) review of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), which sought to address changing circumstances in Central and Eastern Europe, and the new arrangements that would be required on EU enlargement. High priority was given to measures that combat high unemployment, extend citizens’ rights and improve democratic accountability and participation in EU institutions. Governments were to coordinate their employment strategies, and an Employment Committee was established to overSee: The coordination process. Greater efforts were encouraged in combating discrimination on grounds of sex, race, ethnic origin, religion or belief, age, disability or sexual orientation. Member States were also required to address gender inequality and protect citizens against misuse of data stored in institutions of the European Communities. New and continued efforts in the fields of public health, the environment and sustainable development, and consumer protection, were also to be encouraged. The Protocol on social policy was incorporated into the revised Treaty of Rome. Membership of the EU was made more explicitly conditional in that successful applicants had to agree to abide by the principles of human rights and fundamental freedoms, liberty and democracy in relation to their citizens, as set down by the EU, or face suspension of certain membership rights, including the right to vote. Despite its innovations and reforms, the Treaty failed to introduce the institutional reforms necessary to prepare the EU for enlargement. Even before it entered into force on 1 May 1999, preparations were being made for a further IGC that would lead to the Treaty of Nice in 2001. The Treaty of Nice, signed on 26 February 2001, entered into force on 1 February 2003. This treaty, the former Treaty of the EU and the Treaty of the EC were merged into one consolidated version. The Treaty of Nice notably made the European Parliament a co-legislator on asylum policy and judicial cooperation in civil matters. It was intended to prepare the European Union (EU) for enlargement by introducing a series of staged reforms to the institutions, notably by reducing the size of the European Commission to a maximum of one national from each Member State, re-weighting votes within the Council of the European Union, essentially to the advantage of the larger Member States, and re-allocating seats in the European Parliament. Unlike earlier treaties such as the Single European Act and the Treaty of Amsterdam, the Treaty of Nice did little in the way of increasing the competences of the EU and the European Communities (EC) beyond a slight extension of the treaty-making powers of the EC to include services and the insertion into the Treaty of Rome of a new title on economic, financial and technical cooperation with third countries. However, when adopting the Treaty, the Member States set in motion a process that could lead to significant increases in the activities of the EU. Equally, it could lead to limits being placed on them. This was later expanded on in the Laeken Declaration (2001) and provided with a forum for expression in the Convention on the Future of Europe launched in February 2002, which concluded its work with the publication of a draft European Constitution on 18 July 2003. The EU Treaties state that the European Union is founded on the principle of liberty, democracy, human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law. These principles have been re-emphasized in the: Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, signed by Heads of Government of the 25 Member States in Rome on 29 October 2004. See: Charter of Fundamental Social Rights of Workers; Convention on the Future of Europe; European Communities; European Council; European Union citizenship; Fundamental rights; Intergovernmental Conference (IGC); Laeken Declaration