(7)The Commission announced in its Communication of 28 October 2015 entitled ‘Upgrading the Single Market: more opportunities for people and business’ that it would assess the need to update the existing rules on cross-border mergers in order to make it easier for SMEs to choose their preferred business strategies and to better adapt to changes in market conditions, but without weakening existing employment protection. In its Communication of 25 October 2016 entitled ‘Commission Work Programme 2017: Delivering a Europe that protects, empowers and defends’, the Commission announced an initiative to facilitate cross-border mergers.