10.7.1999 Official Journal of the European Communities L 175/43 COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 1999/70/EC of 28 June 1999 concerning the framework agreement on fixed-term work concluded by ETUC, UNICE and CEEP THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 139(2) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Whereas: (1)  Following the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam the provisions of the Agreement on social policy annexed to the Protocol on social policy, annexed to the Treaty establishing the European Community have been incorporated into Articles 136 to 139 of the Treaty establishing the European Community; (2)  Management and labour (the social partners) may, in accordance with Article 139(2) of the Treaty, request jointly that agreements at Community level be imple- mented by a Council decision on a proposal from the Commission; (3)  Point 7 of the Community Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers provides, inter alia, that ‘the completion of the internal market must lead to an improvement in the living and working conditions of workers in the European Community. This process must result from an approximation of these conditions while the improvement is being maintained, as regards in particular forms of employment other than open-ended contracts, such as fixed-term contracts, part-time working, temporary work and seasonal work’; (4)  The Council has been unable to reach a decision on the proposal for a Directive on certain employment relation- ships with regard to distortions of competition (!), nor on the proposal for a Directive on certain employment relationships with regard to working conditions (?); (5)  The conclusions of the Essen European Council stressed the need to take measures with a view to ‘increasing the employment-intensiveness of growth, in particular by a more flexible organisation of work in a way which fulfils both the wishes of employees and the requirements of competition’; (6)  The Council Resolution of 9 February 1999 on the 1999 Employment Guidelines invites the social partners at all appropriate levels to negotiate agreements to modernise the organisation of work, including flexible working arrangements, with the aim of making under- takings productive and competitive and achieving the required balance between flexibility and security; p. 6. and O] C 305, 5.12.1990, p. 8. , p- 4. ) (11) (12) (13) The Commission, in accordance with Article 3(2) of the Agreement on social policy, has consulted management and labour on the possible direction of Community action with regard to flexible working time and job security; The Commission, considering after such consultation that Community action was desirable, once again consulted management and labour on the substance of the envisaged proposal in accordance with Article 3(3) of the said Agreement; The general cross-industry organisations, namely the Union of Industrial and Employers' Confederations of Europe (UNICE), the European Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation (CEEP) and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), informed the Commission in a joint letter dated 23 March 1998 of their desire to initiate the procedure provided for in Article 4 of the said Agreement; they asked the Commission, in a joint letter, for a further period of three months; the Commis- sion complied with this request extending the nego- tiation period to 30 March 1999; The said cross-industry organisations on 18 March 1999 concluded a framework agreement on fixed-term work; they forwarded to the Commission their joint request to implement the framework agreement by a Council Decision on a proposal from the Commission, in accordance with Article 4(2) of the Agreement on social policy; The Council, in its Resolution of 6 December 1994 on ‘certain aspects for a European Union social policy: a contribution to economic and social convergence in the Union’ (%), asked management and labour to make use of the opportunities for concluding agreements, since they are as a rule closer to social reality and to social prob- lems; The signatory parties, in the preamble to the framework agreement on part-time work concluded on 6 June 1997, announced their intention to consider the need for similar agreements relating to other forms of flexible work; Management and labour wished to give particular atten- tion to fixed-term work, while at the same time indi- cating that it was their intention to consider the need for a similar agreement relating to temporary agency work; () O] C 368, 23.12.1994, p. 6.