Documents

The basic strategy paper on improving the administrative capacity of public administration, on which the ESC gave its opinion, first describes the existing state of public administration in Greece. It then focuses on necessary improvements for the promotion of e-government, with the introduction of ICT to public administration and measures for institutional modernisation. In addition, the document sets strategic objectives at central and regional government level and priorities for the basic fields of local government.

This draft law aims to create a single new regulatory framework for the application of equal treatment of men and women in the employment sector, transposing Directive 2002/73/EC and Directive 75/117/EEC into national law, with regard to salaries and to the application of the rules on equal pay for men and women.

The ESC approved this preliminary draft law in that it seeks to complete the regulation of preferences in single bankruptcy proceedings with a sense of convergence regarding bankruptcy legislation.In general, the ESC approves the preliminary draft law; however, it considers that the project legislation may lead to a loss of autonomy of labour regulations, such as Article 32 of the Workers' Statute.In addition, the ESC considers that the project for the amendment of the Bankruptcy Act in the area of public law and social security credits, aimed at increasing their privilege, is not justified since it would affect the balance achieved by the Bankruptcy Act.

This report is the only one at state level that annually presents Spanish society, by order of the Government, with an analysis of the evolution of the economic scenario, the labour market and labour relations, as well as life quality and social welfare, shared and agreed by the most representative business and union organisations and entities and associations in the agricultural, shipping and fishing, consumer and social economy sectors.Mention must be made of the comparison of many of its analyses, based on this 2005 edition, in the context of the European Union, to understand the orientation of the main indexes and the behaviour of the basic parameters that govern the evolution ofour society. Mention must also be made of the analysis made of the life quality in the country, a focus that provides very detailed knowledge of aspects that have an immediate effect on citizens' living conditions and opportunities, which are closely linked to the United Nations' concept of human development. It compares indexes among the 25 members of the EU to obtain detailed knowledge of the differencesin the living conditions of the Community population as a whole.In general, the Spanish economy continued its dynamic line in 2005. In real terms and again due to the boost in internal demand, the growth rate reached 3.4%, higher than the EU-25 as a whole, which closed the year with a growth rate of 1.6%. This growth was accompanied by an increase in employment, albeit largely of a temporary nature. The report acknowledges the initiatives taken by the Government to redirect the economic policy towards productivity, including the Vitalisation Plan, the National Reform Programme within the framework of the Lisbon Strategy and the tax reforms, including the passing of the Tax Reform Bill. At the same time, it points to the urgent need to promote investment in R&D&i and to the improvement in certain aspects of education and professional training. The section on the labour market highlights the good behaviour of its main indicators, which continued their sustained improvements in 2005, with a growth in employment and a fall in unemployment that were greater than in the European Union. The creation of paid employment in the private sector increased by 700,000 people, with a repetition of the significant creation of the number of women employed, which totalled almost 420,000, although this figure is still insufficient. Emphasis is placed on the effect immigration has had on the structure of the Spanish labour market over the last five years, as well as the extraordinary legalisation process of foreign workers and the decisive influence social dialogue has had on the said process. This legalisation process has produced good results for employment, the recognition of both employers? and workers? rights and obligations, as well as contributions to the Social Security system, since it has led to the affiliation of more than 500,000 people.However, the report also underlines its concern for certain deficits in employment equality in our country. Indeed, the annual average of the proportion of employees with a temporary contract exceeded 33%, which represented an increase of around 1% in comparison with 2004, although there was also an increase in the number of temporary contracts that were converted into open-ended contracts. As for the life quality of Spanish citizens, the report emphasises areas such as education, health, housing, consumerism and the environment, which enable us to verify the evolution of our society?s well-being.In the field of education and in accordance with the commitments to reinforcement laid down in the Lisbon Strategy, the report states that the situation in Spain reaches levels of convergence with regard to academic participation and spending on education and it also verifies a rapid approach to European averages in participation in ongoing training and in the proportion of science and technology graduates. However, it shows concern for the proportion of early school leavers (30.8%) and the low proportion of young people that have reached the higher secondary level. Again, one of the subjects analysed is housing, whose increased prices, despite a moderate deceleration, continued to produce an evident worsening of accessibility to housing and an increase in the debt levels of homes. Notice is given that the demand continues to grow due to the fact that housing is considered as an investment asset, as well as a result of intense immigration.The section on social welfare shows that Spain's healthy economic situation in recent years has not led to a similar reinforcement in social welfare, albeit true that it has had a positive effect on the accounts of the Social Security system.

In the opinion of the ESC, the Government?s legislative option for preparing a new law to incorporate Community Directive 2004/17/EC is both positive and appropriate and it considers that the preliminary draft law involves unquestionable progress in the simplification of procedures and technical improvements that will provide greater legal certainty for those affected by the legislation.It would have been advisable to open an appropriate consultation process to enable the participation of the various players affected by the application of the legislation.The ESC considers appropriate the inclusion of social and environmental criteria for the valuation of offers in the legislation and in the special conditions for the execution of the contract, with an explicit reference to employment quality in the latter, as well as the requirement of a staff that guarantees the execution of the project with regard to the technical specifications. The necessary limitations to and controls over subcontracting should also be indicated in a clearer, more conclusive way.The ESC considers it necessary to weigh up the effects of the application of the legislation in the bus and coach transport sector due to the uniqueness of the Spanish market based on regulated competition. In addition, it wishes to highlight the proposal of the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council regarding the intervention of Member States in the requirements and awarding of public service contracts in passenger transport by train and bus.

The ESC approves the preliminary draft law as it considers it a necessary and appropriate reform.The main change introduced by the preliminary draft law is the creation of a unique institution that is independent from the Government and has the power to inspect and penalise in the area of the defence of competition: the National Competition Commission. The ESC supports the mandate of six years without the possibility of renewal, but requests formulas for reaching a broad consensus in Parliament considering appointments.The governing principles of the reform are shared: legal certainty, independence, transparency and responsibility to society and the fight against restrictive conduct. A clearer definition is required of the competencies corresponding to the ordinary courts and the administrative authorities regarding the defence of competition and, above all, regarding the integration of referrals to the corresponding Community regulations; the latter are directly applicable in all the Member States, but their high level of development would recommend inclusion of the referrals required to provide a better definition of the scope of competency of the European Union in the text of Spanish legislation.The ESC requests greater guarantee of the exceptional and motivated character of the Government's decisions on concentrative operations.It is recommended that the procedures be speeded up and terms reduced because delays can have particularly damaging effects.The leniency procedure may be a mechanism for increasing effectiveness, but its application requires special care to avoid its possible spurious use.

The ESC approved the aim of applying the principle of equal opportunities between men and women.It approves the leading roll of collective negotiation in the adoption of positive measures and the adaptation of the various provisions according to the size of the companies.The ESC considers that the exercise of the different rights included should be equal for both public civil servants and other workers alike.The ESC approves the creation of the new paternity law as a first step to extending the culture of the shared responsibility of both parents.The obligation of parity in company boards of directors should be modulated.The CEOE rejects the unagreed reform of the Workers' Statute to introduce the 'duty to negotiate' the plans for equality in enterprise.

The National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) begins by setting out developments observed in the country over the last 10 years, and factors affecting development. It also sets out the main development policy priorities, focusing on balanced regional development, cross-border, international and interregional cooperation, the environment and sustainable development, accessibility and services of general economic interest, openness, human resources and digital convergence and efficient public administration.

This draft law amends the current law on trade marks (No 2239/1994), in order to bring the system for registering national trade marks into line with legislation in the EU Member States, codify the relevant regulations and harmonise all the procedures. It also puts forward various provisions designed to increase the powers of the competition committee.

The Council expresses its concern in the report about the labour shortages anticipated in the public sector. A number of sectors will already be facing labour shortages in the near future, particularly of highly educated staff. That will put pressure on public services and may bringabout (or aggravate) wage competition between the public and private sectors. The education and healthcare and welfare sectors can expect particularly serious shortages, specifically owing to the ageing of the population.

In the opinion of the SER, it must certainly be possible for people to continue working after they reach pensionable age if both the employer and the employee are in favour. This is in line with the objectives of maximum employment and the need for a gradual transition fromemployment to retirement.The advisory report comprises a review of the legislation and regulations that apply to the employment of people over the age of 65. Based on this review, there do not appear to be any legal barriers to working beyond the age of 65. What?s more, the gap between gross and net pay is narrower for those over the age of 65 than it is for younger employees. The SER therefore believes that no further positive incentives are necessary to encourage working beyond the age of 65.

Commodity and industrial boards are partnerships between the employers? associations and trade unions in a particular sector of the Dutch economy. Along with the Social and Economic Council they form the statutory industrial organisation (PBO). The boards are authorised toimpose levies and draw up mandatory rules for all companies that fall within their scope of operation, for example ordinances intended to improve food safety, combat animal and plant diseases or improve working conditions.

This bill introduces substantial changes in personal income tax (IRPF) and corporate tax (IS). It aims to make IRPF fairer (by reducing the tax burden on earned income), to raise minimum personal and family revenues and to integrate them as tax relief, and to limit deductions for contributions to welfare schemes and investment in housing.The bill also seeks to stimulate economic growth by means of a fixed rate of 18 per cent on savings income and the lowering of the maximum IRPF rate and of the IS rates. A further aim is to simplify direct tax through the uniform taxation of savings revenue in IRPF, a reduction in the bands of the graduated rate and the removal of tax breaks for certain activities in IS.The Council notes the need to assess the changes? cost in terms of tax collection and for the new arrangement as regards minimum personal and family revenue to contribute to the tax?s progressive graduation. As to taxation on housing, the Council proposes the establishment of some form of relief for tenants.More information is required on the changes? distributive effects and the tax saving involved, and it is moreover not clear that the change in the treatment of dividends will represent a better form of taxation.The Council deems that it would have been better for corporate tax to undergo a full review and that there should be a government commitment to the promotion of active policies for corporate activities that until now were covered by benefits in corporate tax.