Judgment of the Court (Seventh Chamber) of 16 February 2023 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Supremo Tribunal de Justiça — Portugal) — Strong Charon, Soluções de Segurança, S.A. v 2045-Empresa de de Segurança, S.A., FL

(Case C-675/21, (1) Strong Charon)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Social policy - Transfers of undertakings - Safeguarding of employees’ rights - Directive 2001/23/EC - Scope - Refusal by the transferee to recognise the transfer of the employment contract - Definition of ‘transfer’ - Definition of ‘economic unit’ - Absence of a contractual link between the transferor and the transferee)

(2023/C 127/13)

Language of the case: Portuguese

Referring court

Supremo Tribunal de Justiça

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Strong Charon, Soluções de Segurança, S.A.

Defendant: 2045-Empresa de Segurança, S.A., FL

Operative part of the judgment

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,

must be interpreted as meaning that the absence of a contractual link between the transferor and the transferee of an undertaking or a business, or part of an undertaking or a business, is irrelevant to establishing the existence of a transfer, for the purposes of that directive.

2.	Article 1(1) of Directive 2001/23

must be interpreted as meaning that a situation in which a service provider which, in order to meet the needs of one of its customers, had assigned to the latter a team composed of a certain number of workers, and is replaced, by that customer, by a new service provider to supply the same services, and (i) the latter service provider takes on only a very small number of the workers in that team, without those workers having the specific skills and knowledge essential to the performance of those services for that customer, and (ii) the new service provider does not take over such tangible or intangible property as would have been necessary for the continuity of those services, cannot fall within the scope of that directive.

(1) OJ C 148, 4.4.2022.