Documents

This Annual Report includes, firstly, a description of the Spain economic scene, placing this both in an international context and in that of the European Union, dealing specifically with the evolution of internal and external demand, production, the functional distribution of income, the evolution of prices, the position of R&D&i, and the results in terms of comparison between regional economies. Secondly, this Annual Report analyses the results of this economic situation in relation to a key factor, from the Council?s perspective: labour. Chapter Two analyses the evolution of the labour market, employment policies - with particular attention paid to the regional dimension - and also the evolution of social dialogue, collective bargaining and the climate of labour relations as a whole. In Chapter Three, the Annual Report analyses issues that, in turn, arise from the previous issue and are directly related to them, such as those concerning quality of life and social protection: education, the information society, housing, sustainable development, healthcare, consumption, social security, social services, social inclusion and non-discrimination. As can be seen, the content of the Spanish ESC?s Annual Report is wide-ranging and includes all the facets that provide us with an economic and social x-ray image of Spain. Without doubt the ESC?s broadly represented interests are a decisive element when it comes to gaining a broad view of the current position in Spain. Those who inform us of the situation and the problems in Spanish society are key stakeholders in the day-to-day activity of Spanish society, such as workers, employers and official interest groups. For this reason, it would be reasonable to say that we have a view of the genuine concerns of citizens who participate in the economic and social processes that form the backbone of our society.

The traditional objectives of the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) do not take sufficient account of new preferences of society concerning nature conservation, environmental protection, and animal welfare. National and European policy should enable agriculture to make an optimal contribution to public prosperity. This means that it should not only produce 'food' (marketable agricultural products) but alsoprovide 'green services'(such as attractive landscapes). In order to achieve this, the present system of single farm payments must be replaced by targeted forms of payment for the production of services that society values and desires. This conversion must not, however, lead to unacceptable distortions of competition in the markets for agricultural products.

Joint opinion of the National Labour Council and the Central Economic Council:Transposition of article 16 of Directive 2005/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2005 on cross-border mergers of limited liability companies - opinion 1634

The Dutch Government wishes the highly urbanised region in the west of the country 'the Randstad' to develop into a sustainable and competitive European top region. Thatambition is stated in the Randstad 2040 Introductory Memorandum [Startnotitie Randstad 2040] that the Government published in June 2007. The Governmentrequested the Social and Economic Council to advise on the Introductory Memorandum. In April 2008, the Council published its advisory report, entitled Making the Randstad go a Long Way [Zuinig op de Randstad].

The State Secretary of Health, Welfare and Sport [VWS] asked the Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands (SER)for advice about the future of the EMEA. According to the Cabinet, this Act is insufficient for the future. The State Secretary requested the Council to provide a policy framework for the Act in the long term and to propose measures based on that long-term policy framework for the short and medium term (2009-2010).The Council agrees with the Cabinet that the current organisation and financing of longterm care offer insufficient preparation for the future and that adjustments are required. There are care-related problems regarding the quality of care, the relationship betweencure, care and social participation and the position of the client in the healthcare system.In addition, the manageability of the volume and cost development of the Act are a problem.In its advisory report, the Council has formulated six policy challenges.1. A far more central position for the client by offering more freedom of choice and greater steering possibilities. At the same time, the future system must take intoaccount clients who are unable to direct their own lives.2. Improving the quality of care and strengthening the care-related and logistical relationship between cure, care and support in the case of participation.3. Guaranteeing the availability of care and, in particular, of sufficient and qualified care staff.4. Increasing individual responsibility for clients with greater financial resources.This applies particularly to the surroundings in which the care is provided (accommodation). At the same time, access to the care from the financial point ofview must be maintained.5. Increasing flexibility and dynamics on the healthcare market in order to facilitate greater innovation and differentiation, as well as an increased tailor-madeapproach with respect to the range of care on offer.6. Guaranteeing the financial viability of and the social support (solidarity) for the care system in the future.

Speech held by Alexander Rinnooy Kan at the RSM Erasmus University Global Executive OneMBA program, Erasmus University Rotterdam, April 2008

These follow-up recommendations are based on the Council's advisory report Towards a promising and sustainable energy policy of 15 December 2006. The Council supports the EU's strategic objective of keeping the average global rise in temperature to a maximum of 2°C higher than the pre-industrial level.The Council?s basic position is that efforts to ensure the sustainable provision of energy should be simultaneously reliable, clean, safe, accessible, and affordable. This energy transition is a dynamic process that will take many decades. In practice, it will probably never be possible to comply fully and simultaneously with all the sustainability aspects.For the present, an entirely sustainable energy supply is a utopia, from the point of view of the climate problem. A major increase in temperature would have extremelyhazardous consequences in the form of more frequent storms, a rise in sea level, and disruption of food supplies.The main point according to the Council is that a development process should be initiated and pursued with a view to making energy management more sustainable via aseries of major steps, with the optimum balance always being achieved between the various elements of sustainable energy management. To achieve the climate objectives,significantly greater efforts are needed in the area of energy saving and renewable energy. There must also be investment in experiments to ensure the sustainability ofadvanced methods of coal and gas-fired generation of electricity (clean fossil fuels).Even if we succeed in the coming decades in bringing about large-scale energy saving and making greater use of renewable energy, a large proportion of our electricity will still be generated by burning fossil fuels.