The preoccupation for promoting part time work is also manifested in the European Unionstates. As a consequence, EU Directive no. 97/81 was passed by the EU Council on December 15th 1997regarding the Frame-agreement on part-time work, signed on June 6th 1997 by the Industry ConfederationUnion and the Employers Union in Europe, European Center of privately held organizations and the Europeanconfederation of syndicates.