Judgment_paragraph 23 · Securitas - Serviços e Tecnologia de Segurança SA v ICTS Portugal – Consultadoria de Aviação Comercial SA and Others (C-200/16)

23It that regard, it should be recalled that, in accordance with the settled case-law of the Court, Directive 2001/23 is applicable whenever, in the context of contractual relations, there is a change in the natural or legal person responsible for carrying on the undertaking and entering into the obligations of an employer towards employees of the undertaking. Thus there is no need, in order for Directive 2001/23 to be applicable, for there to be any direct contractual relationship between the transferor and the transferee: the transfer may take place through the intermediary of a third party (see, inter alia, judgments of 7 March 1996, Merckx and Neuhuys, C‑171/94 and C‑172/94, EU:C:1996:87, paragraphs 28 and 30, and of 20 November 2003, Abler and Others, C‑340/01, EU:C:2003:629, paragraph 39).