ing balanced
support for the parties.
2. To this end, before submitting proposals in the social policy field,
the Commission shall consult management and labour on the possible
direction of Community action.
3. If, after such consultation, the Commission considers Community
action advisable, it shall consult management and labour on the
content of the envisaged proposal. Management and labour shall
forward to the Commission an opinion or, where appropriate, a
recommendation.
4. On the occasion of such consultation, management and labour may
inform the Commission of their wish to initiate the process provided
for in Article 4. The duration of the procedure shall not exceed nine
months, unless the management and labour concerned and the
Commission decide jointly to extend it.
ARTICLE 4
1. Should management and labour so desire, the dialogue between
them at Community level may lead to contractual relations, including
agreements.
2. Agreements concluded at Community level shall be implemented
either in accordance with the procedures and practices specific to
management and labour and the Member States or, in matters covered
by Article 2, at the joint request of the signatory parties, by a Council
decision on a proposal from the Commission.
The Council shall act by qualified majority, except where the
agreement in question contains one or more provisions relating to one
of the areas referred to in Article 2(3), in which case it shall act
unanimously.
ARTICLE 5
With a view to achieving the objectives of Article 1 and without
prejudice to the other provisions of the Treaty, the Commission shall
encourage co-operation between the Member States and facilitate the
co-ordination of their action in all social policy fields under this
Agreement.
ARTICLE 6
1. Each Member State shall ensure that the principle of equal pay for
male and female workers for equal work is applied.
2. For the purpose of this Article, "pay" means the ordinary basic or
minimum wage or salary and any other consideration, whether in cash
or in kind, which the worker receives directly or indirectly, in respect of
his employment, from his employer.
Equal pay without discrimination based on sex means:
(a) that pay for the same work at piece rates shall be calculated on the
basis of the same unit of measurement.
(b) that pay for work at time rates shall be the same for the same job.
3. This Article shall not prevent any Member State from maintaining or
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