Brussels, 17/04/2008 (Agence Europe) - “A bit of good news from the ECJ at last!”, John Monks, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) was pleased to state in a press release on 16 April with reference to the ruling the day before by the Court of Justice on the case relating to the Irish Municipal Public and Civil Trade Union, IMPACT (see EUROPE 9644). “This judgement, in particular the direct effect of the non-discrimination clause and the message that the directive must be implemented effectively, will help to secure a better protection for fixed term workers around Europe, which was the aim of our agreement”, he said. The framework agreement in question, officialised by the 1999/70 directive on working conditions, was the result of negotiation between the Commission and the three “European cross-sectoral social partners”, namely ETUC, BusinessEurope (employers' association) and the CEEP (European Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation and of Enterprises of General Economic Interest). These associations must be consulted before any directive of a social kind is adopted by way of Articles 128 and 139 of the EC Treaty. (C.D.)