Documents

The ESC calls for more transparency in quick credits, and for the Bank of Spain to control the debt consolidation companies.The Report shows concern about family indebtedness because of the new credit models.The ESC demands control over misleading publicity and unfair competition.The Report asks for strengthening the security of economic trade and data protection.

This Advisory Report deals with the position of employees in Dutch listed companies. It contains the response of the Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands to a request from the Minister of Social Affairs & Employment, dated 19 June 2007, for advice on the question of whether the position of employees in companies needs to be strengthened.Drawing in part on external research it had commissioned, the Council notes that, compared to a number of its neighbouring countries, the Netherlands has a substantialbody of legislation and regulation governing the participation of employees in decisionmaking at work. The Council therefore concludes that there is no reason at present to undertake a fundamental revision of Dutch regulations on employee participation. However, the Council does make certain recommendations for expanding those regulations.

The Council considers that, in general, the effects of enlargement have not had a major impact on our country and that Spain has a relative advantage compared to other member states. Despite this relatively favourable position, the ESC believes that Spain must make greater efforts and take advantage of its safety margin in order to articulate and intensify strategies to strengthen the competitiveness of its production fabric.The Report talks of the need to put in place a new plan for Spanish industrial policy in the context of the revision of industrial policy at Community level and the framework of general economic policy contained in the National Reform Program.For the Council, this new industrial policy must be capable of the long-term consolidation of a solid and dynamic production framework as a basis for economic growth, to be adjusted in line with supply and demand, and capable of reacting rapidly to changes in the situation, thanks to a complete understanding of the peculiarities of each sector and, at the same time, capable of standing up to growing competition from abroad. Innovation is the main resource that companies have to reduce the effects of the processes of relocation.The report believes that collective bargaining must include strategies for new aspects of enlargement. In this sense it notes that the experience of dialogue and social harmony in Spain represent a major asset that should be studied in depth in order to confront the socio-economic challenges arising from processes such as European enlargement and, more particularly, as a tool to manage the expectation of change and restructuring.

Implementation of the solidarity pact between the generations and of the interprofessional agreement for 2007-2008: - Early retirement by collective agreement: 56 years old, after 40 years of effective work - Redefinition of assimilated days - follow-up of opinion No. 1.601 - opinion 1627

Collective agreement No. 93 Collective agreement instituting and determining for 2007 and 2008 the procedure for implementing and the conditions for granting a supplementary benefit scheme for some older workers who are dismissed, when they are occupied in branches of industry that do not come under an instituted joint committee or when the instituted joint committee does not function