Judgment_paragraph 25 · João Filipe Ferreira da Silva e Brito and Others v Estado português (C-160/14)

25According to settled case-law, the aim of Directive 2001/23 is to ensure continuity of employment relationships within an economic entity, irrespective of any change of ownership. The decisive criterion for establishing the existence of a transfer within the meaning of that directive is, therefore, the fact that the entity in question retains its identity, as indicated inter alia by the fact that its operation is actually continued or resumed (see judgments in Spijkers, 24/85, EU:C:1986:127, paragraphs 11 and 12; Güney-Görres and Demir, C‑232/04 and C‑233/04, EU:C:2005:778, paragraph 31 and the case-law cited; and Amatori and Others, C‑458/12, EU:C:2014:124, paragraph 30 and the case-law cited).