European Union – Employment. Article 7(1) of Directive (EC) 2003/88 should be interpreted as precluding national legislation which, for the purpose of calculating remuneration for annual leave, allowed collective agreements to provide for account to be taken of reductions in earnings resulting from the fact that during the reference period there had been days when no work was actually performed owing to short-time working, with the consequence that the worker received, for the duration of the minimum period of annual leave to which he was entitled under art 7(1) of the directive, remuneration for annual leave that was lower than the normal remuneration which he received during periods of work. The Court of Justice of the European Union so held, among other things, in a preliminary ruling in proceedings concerning the calculation of remuneration for annual leave, namely the payment to which the employee was entitled in respect of his paid annual leave.