22.11.2008   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 301/22

Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Vestre Landsret (Denmark) lodged on 18 September 2008 — Ingeniørforeningen i Danmark, acting for Bertram Holst v Dansk Industri, acting for Babcock & Wilcox Vølund ApS

(Case C-405/08)

(2008/C 301/35)

Language of the case: Danish

Referring court

Vestre Landsret

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Ingeniørforeningen i Danmark, acting for Bertram Holst

Defendant: Dansk Industri, acting for Babcock & Wilcox Vølund ApS

Question referred

1.

There is disagreement amongst the parties as to whether Directive 2002/14/EC establishing a general framework for informing and consulting (1) employees has been correctly implemented in the Cooperation Agreement between DA and LO. In that connection, do Community rules preclude implementation of a directive in such a manner that groups of employees are covered by a collective agreement between parties which do not represent the professional group of the persons concerned and where the collective agreement does not cover the professional group of the persons concerned?

2.

If Directive 2002/14/EC has been correctly implemented for BH in the Cooperation Agreement between DA and LO, has Article 7 of the Directive been correctly implemented when it is established that the Cooperation Agreement does not contain a high standard of protection against dismissal for certain professional groups?

3.

If BH is covered by the legislative implementation of the Directive, do the requirements of Article 7 of the Directive concerning ‘adequate protection and guarantees to enable them to perform properly the duties which have been assigned to them’ preclude an implementation of Article 7 of the Directive in section 8 of the [Law on informing and consulting employees], which reads as follows: ‘The representatives who are to be informed and consulted on behalf of the employees shall be protected against dismissal or other adverse consequences for their conditions of employment in the same manner as union representatives in the same or a similar professional field’, if the implementation does not contain a high standard of protection against dismissal for professional groups which are not covered by a collective agreement?

(1)  OJ 2002 L 80, p. 29.