ARTICLE 15: Agriculture and Food Industry
(1) Because of the crucial importance of the European Community rules for the agriculture and food industries, the German Democratic Republic shall introduce a price support and external protection scheme in line with the EC market regime so that agricultural producer prices in the German Democratic Republic become adjusted to those in the Federal Republic of Germany. The German Democratic Republic shall not introduce levies or refunds vis-a-vis the European Community, subject to reciprocity. [ . . . ]
ARTICLE 16: Protection of the Environment
(1) The protection of human beings, animals and plants, soil, water, air, the climate and landscape as well as cultural and other material property against harmful environmental influences is a major objective of both Contracting Parties. They shall pursue this objective on the basis of prevention, the polluter pays principle and cooperation. Their aim is the rapid establishment of a German environmental union.
(2) The German Democratic Republic shall introduce regulations to ensure that, on the entry into force of this Treaty, the safety and environmental requirements applicable in the Federal Republic of Germany are the precondition for the granting of authorizations under environmental law for new plant and installations on its territory. For existing plant and installations the German Democratic Republic shall introduce regulations to bring them up to standard as quickly as possible. [ . . . ]
CHAPTER IV: PROVISIONS CONCERNING THE SOCIAL UNION
ARTICLE 17: Principles of Labour Law
In the German Democratic Republic freedom of association, autonomy in collective bargaining, legislation relating to industrial action, corporate legal structure, codetermination at board level and protection against dismissal shall apply in line with the law of the Federal Republic of Germany; further details are contained in the Protocol on Guidelines and in Annexes II and III.
ARTICLE 18: Principles of Social Insurance
(1) The German Democratic Republic shall introduce a structured system of social insurance, to be governed by the following principles:
1. Pension, sickness, accident and unemployment insurance shall each be administered by self-governing bodies under public law subject to legal supervision by the state.
2. Pension, sickness, accident and unemployment insurance including employment promotion shall be financed primarily by contributions. Contributions to pension, sickness and unemployment insurance shall, as a rule, be paid half by the employee and half by the employer in line with the contribution rates applicable in the Federal Republic of Germany, and accident insurance contributions shall be borne by the employer.
3. Wage replacement benefits shall be based on the level of insured earnings. [ . . . ]
ARTICLE 19: Unemployment Insurance and Employment Promotion
The German Democratic Republic shall introduce a system of unemployment insurance including employment promotion which shall be in line with the provisions of the Employment Promotion Act of the Federal Republic of Germany. Special importance shall be attached to an active labour market policy, such as vocational training and retraining. Consideration shall be given to the interests of women and disabled persons. In the transitional phase, special conditions in the German Democratic Republic shall be taken into account. The Governments of both Contracting Parties shall cooperate closely in the development of unemployment insurance including employment promotion.
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