The Impact of Austerity in the Framework of Corporate Rescue and the Rights of Workers in the EU : A Road to Recovery?

The financial crisis and the sovereign debt crisis that followed it have been attributed to a number of causes. Whether these are economic, social, cultural, or legal, they are all by and large also political. The aim of this article is not to delve into the myriad of heated political arguments that continue to dominate the scene, but to assess the impact of the financial crisis on the employment protection rights in Greece, Portugal, France, and the United Kingdom and to examine its impact on their corporate rescue regimes with a view to understanding what the legislative and social changes may mean for the future of these individual nations, their people and businesses, and perhaps for the EU and Eurozone as a whole. In light of the crisis, the rights of the workforce have been severely compromised to afford financially troubled companies a greater opportunity to recover. In order to minimise the catastrophic impact of financial turmoil on their economy and society, all four jurisdictions introduced reforms to their labour codes and corporate rescue mechanisms, often in the name of austerity.This article will only offer a snap shot of the important changes that have occurred, the effects as understood at the current level of research, and an assessment whether or not the reforms of pre-insolvency regimes in particular have operated as an effective embankment for the protection of social and economic welfare, the former of these having already been significantly reduced throughout the EU