European Union – Employment. Article 7 of Directive (EC) 2003/88 should be interpreted as precluding national legislation in so far as it entailed that, in the event that the worker had not asked to exercise his right to paid annual leave prior to the termination of the employment relationship, that worker lost - automatically and without prior verification of whether the employer had in fact enabled him, in particular through the provision of sufficient information, to exercise his right to leave prior to the termination of that relationship - the days of paid annual leave to which he had been entitled under EU law on the date of the termination of that relationship, and, accordingly, his right to an allowance in lieu of paid annual leave not taken. The Court of Justice of the European Union so held in proceedings concerning the refusal by the respondent employer to pay the applicant employee an allowance in lieu of annual leave not taken before the employment relationship between them had been terminated.