bove mentioned Agreement.
By way of derogation from Article 148(2) of the Treaty, acts of the
Council which are made pursuant to this Protocol and which must be
adopted by a qualified majority shall be deemed to be so adopted if
they have received at least forty-four votes in favour. The unanimity of
the members of the Council, with the exception of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, shall be necessary for acts of
the Council which must be adopted unanimously and for those
amending the Commission proposal.
Acts adopted by the Council and any financial consequences other
than administrative costs entailed for the institutions shall not be
applicable to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
3. This Protocol shall be annexed to the Treaty establishing the
European Community.

AGREEMENT
ON SOCIAL POLICY CONCLUDED BETWEEN THE MEMBER STATES
OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE
UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND.
The undersigned eleven HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES, that is to say,
the Kingdom of Belgium, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Federal
Republic of Germany, the Hellenic Republic, the Grand Duchy of
Luxembourg, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Portuguese
Republic (hereinafter referred to the "the Member States"),
WISHING TO implement to the 1989 Social Charter on the basis of the
"acquis communautaire",
CONSIDERING the Protocol on social policy,
HAVE AGREED as follows:
ARTICLE 1
The Community and the Member States shall have as their objectives
the promotion of employment, improved living and working conditions,
proper social protection, dialogue between management and labour,
the development of human resources with a view to lasting high
employment and the combating of exclusion. To this end the
Community and Member States shall implement measures which take
account of the diverse forms of national practices, in particular in the
field of contractual relations, and the need to maintain the
competitiveness of the Community economy.
ARTICLE 2
1. With a view to achieving the objectives of Article 1, the Community
shall support and complement the activities of the Member States in
the following fields:
- improvement in particular of the working environment to protect
workers' health and safety;
- working conditions;
- the information and consultation of workers;
- equality between men and women with regard to labour market
opportunities and