The Social Policy Agreement was signed by 11 of the European Union Member States in December 1991. It sets out the policy objectives for which the 1989 Community Charter of Fundamental Social Rights of Workers paved the way: promoting employment; improving living and working conditions; combating exclusion; developing human resources, etc. It also lays down the procedure for adopting social policy measures and acknowledges the vital part played by management and labour in this field. The Treaty of Amsterdam has incorporated the Social Policy Agreement with strengthened provisions - into the Social Chapter of the 1991 EC Treaty; this also involved the formal abolition of the Social Policy Protocol. A new legal base has been created for equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women at work, and mention is now made of the fight against social exclusion. Finally, an explicit reference to fundamental rights has added a new dimension to the objectives of social policy. See: Community Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers (Social Charter); Incorporation of the Social Policy Agreement; Social policy; Social Policy Protocol