This synthesis report aims at providing an overview of the legal situation as regards termination of employment relationships in the 15 Member States of the preenlargement European Union1 . The report updates the original 1997 Report which was the fruit of co-operation between the Commission and the Member States; the information set out in the original report was assembled on the basis of contributions from the Member States and they subsequently checked its accuracy. This updated report adheres to the format and structures of the original report and is based on the information provided by the national experts named in the introduction.