§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will make a statement(a) on the Government's policy towards the Süzen Judgment in connection with the Acquired Rights Directive and (b) on the European Council's recent consideration of proposed changes to the Directive. [45998]
§ Mr. Ian McCartneyThe UK Presidency achieved a notable success at a Council of Ministers meeting in Luxembourg on 4 June in securing Member States' agreement to a revision of this Directive. Amongst other improvements, the revised Directive will include a new broad definition of a transfer of an undertaking. This 97W draws on the European Court's judgments in Süzen and other leading cases, without relying on any of them exclusively, in order to clarify the Directive's scope without in any way diminishing employees' existing rights. As we indicated in our "Fairness at Work" White Paper, the Government intend to amend the UK's implementing legislation, the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981 (commonly known as the TUPE Regulations), in order to improve its operation. The revision of the Directive gives us a much sounder basis for doing so than would otherwise have been the case.