In June 2015 the Consortium agreement on implementation of IMPULSE project on Restructuring of Companies and the EU Law was concluded between  the Vienna University of Economics and Business, SS. Cyril and Methodius University and the University of Belgrade. The project is financed by Österreichische Austauschdienst/-Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (OeAD) and will be coordinated by the Research Institute of Central and Eastern European Business Law (FOWI) at the WU Vienna, which has over two decades experience in cooperation with scholars in Central and Eastern European countries. Ass. Prof. Dr. Vuk Radović, Ass. Prof. Dr. Ljubinka Kovačević and Ass. Prof. Dr. Mirjana Radović from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law will take part at this project.

The project aims at conducting a comprehensive research including company and labour laws on restructuring of companies from the perspective of the EU requirements. In the centre of the research are divisions and mergers of public limited liability companies (both national and cross-border), which are regulated by the Third, Sixth and Tenth Company Law Directives plus the Transfer of Undertakings Directive focusing on the employees’ situation in such cases. From a labour law perspective the research will concentrate on the impact of restructuring on the employees and labour market. Emphasis is put on role of social partners in this process.

The main objective of the cooperation is to conduct academic research, which will result in common publications, a conference to be held in Vienna and an edited book with the presentations of the conference. Besides, the scholars will hold common courses on the research topic. The planned workshops in Serbia and Macedonia will provide an opportunity for the representatives of companies and employers’ as well workers’ organisations to discuss their experiences and exchange best practice regarding restructuring.

A broad range of stakeholders should benefit from the project starting with the participating scholars, students, universities, employers’ and employees’ organisations through to companies. The project is going to contribute to the EU accession process by identifying possible shortcomings in the respective national laws. The outcome of the research will be disseminated by articles and policy papers online and in printed form.