L 270/10 Official Journal of the European Communities 8.10.2002 DIRECTIVE 2002/74/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 23 September 2002 amending Council Directive 80/987/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the protection of employees in the event of the insolvency of their employer (Text with EEA relevance) THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Commu- nity, and in particular Article 137(2) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ('), Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (%), Having consulted the Committee of the Regions, Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (), Whereas: (1)  The Community Charter of Fundamental Social Rights for Workers adopted on 9 December 1989 states, in point 7, that the completion of the internal market must lead to an improvement in the living and working condi- tions of workers in the European Community and that this improvement must cover, where necessary, the development of certain aspects of employment regula- tions such as procedures for collective redundancies and those regarding bankruptcies. (2)  Directive 80/987[EEC () aims to provide a minimum degree of protection for employees in the event of the insolvency of their employer. To this end, it obliges the Member States to establish a body which guarantees payment of the outstanding claims of the employees concerned. (3)  Changes in insolvency law in the Member States and the development of the internal market mean that certain provisions of that Directive must be adapted. (4)  Legal certainty and transparency also require clarification with regard to the scope and certain definitions of Direc- tive 80/987/EEC. In particular the possible exclusions granted to the Member States should be indicated in the enacting provisions of the Directive and consequently the Annex thereto should be deleted. () OJ C 154 E, 29.5.2001, p. 109. () 0] € 221, 7.8.2001, p. 110. (*) Opinion of the European Parliament of 29 November 2001 (not yet published in the Official Journal), Council Common Position of 18 February 2002 (O] C 119 E, 22.5.2002, p. 1) (not yet published in the Official Journal) and European Parliament Decision of 14 May 2002 (not yet published in the Official Journal). Council Decision of 27 June 2002. (*) OJ L 283, 28.10.1980, p. 23. Directive as last amended by the 1994 Act of Accession. (5)  In order to ensure equitable protection for the employees concerned, the definition of the state of insolvency should be adapted to new legislative trends in the Member States and should also include within this concept insolvency proceedings other than liquidation. In this context, Member States should, in order to deter- mine the liability of the guarantee institution, be able to lay down that where an insolvency situation results in several insolvency proceedings, the situation be treated as a single insolvency procedure. (6) It should be ensured that the employees referred to in Directive 97/81/EC of 15 December 1997 concerning the Framework Agreement on part-time work concluded by UNICE, CEEP and the ETUC (), Council Directive 1999/70/EC of 28 June 1999 concerning the framework agreement on fixed-term work concluded by the ETUC, UNICE and CEEP (°) and Council Directive 91/383/EEC of 25 June 1991 supplementing the measures to encou- rage improvements in the safety and health at work of workers with a fixed-duration employment relationship or a temporary employment relationship (') are not excluded from the scope of this Directive. (7 In order to ensure legal certainty for employees in the event of insolvency of undertakings pursuing their activ- ities in a number of Member States, and to strengthen workers' rights in line with the established case law of the Court of Justice, provisions should be introduced which expressly state which institution is responsible for meeting pay claims in these cases and establishes as the aim of cooperation between the competent administra- tive authorities of the Member States the early settlement of employees' outstanding claims. Furthermore it is necessary to ensure that the relevant arrangements are properly implemented by making provision for colla- boration between the competent administrative authori- ties in the Member States. (8)  Member States may set limitations on the responsibility of the guarantee institutions which should be compatible with the social objective of the Directive and may take into account the different levels of claims. () OJ L 14, 20.1.1998, p. 9. Directive as last amended by Directive 98/ 23 [EC (O] L 131, 5.5.1998, p. 10). ( OJL 175, 10.7.1999, p. 43. () OJ L 206,29.7.1991, p. 19.