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This draft bill adapts the Spanish legal system to the obligations imposed by the Aarhus Convention and Directive 2003/4/EC on public access to environmental information and Directive 2003/35/EC providing for public participation in the drawing up of certain plans and programmes relating to the environment.The Council makes a positive assessment of both the content and the form of this bill. It also approves of the transposition method, using a basic law and leaving non-basic aspects to be regulated subsequently by the autonomous regions.But the Council makes a number of suggestions in its general and particular remarks, such as that the bill should specify a right to an individual and reasoned reply where representations and remarks are dismissed. The Council also proposes free legal aid for legitimated bodies that demonstrate they lack sufficient resources to bring a popular action.

In line with its Opinion 2/2004 on the bill for Organic Law 1/2004, the Council welcomes the provision of mechanisms for promptly addressing the economic needs of the victims of gender violence.The Council calls for sufficient and continuous aid to be guaranteed in the Budget, for such aid is not guaranteed in the economic memorandum delivered with the Royal Decree.The Council deems that the criteria provided by the Royal Decree for assessment of victims? employability by the Public Employment Service are not clearly defined, and this may generate legal insecurity. The bill should specify the thresholds to be taken into account as regards age and adequacy of educational profile for the jobs and programmes on offer.Moreover the Council considers that cohabitation should not be a requirement in the consideration of dependents, for in these situations the objective risk to the victim may necessitate the adoption of some of the protection measures that would provisionally prevent her from cohabiting with family members.The Council also deems that the current provisions for some requirements for the granting of such aid cannot possibly be met by female immigrants whose migrant status is irregular, and that this restricts the number of protected persons and is therefore contrary to the Law?s integral nature.

The Council conducted this study at its own initiative in response to the growing difficulties faced by young people in entering the world of work.Young people in Spain face some of the highest rates of unemployment and temporary employment in Europe and make a relatively low contribution to the country?s general employment rate. They also tend to leave the family home, get married and have children at a relatively advanced age.There is a sharp divide between education and employment which means that those in work or seeking employment do not remain in education and vice versa.The proportion of young people in low-qualified jobs is very high, much higher than the European average, and the trend remains worrying.One of the great imbalances in the education system is due to the small proportion of young people that engage in vocational training.There is a need to rebalance the educational pyramid, improving and promoting the quality of 3-year degrees and vocational training so as to make the supply of labour match the demand.The report?s last set of conclusions and recommendations highlights the deficiencies found in the treatment of young people by active employment policies.In most cases the actions taken have been sporadic, barely coherent and not clearly in keeping with aims linked to employment and labour-market conditions. It is therefore still necessary to promote actions in the framework of the European Employment Strategy to facilitate young people?s access to employment.

The Council makes 23 jointly agreed recommendations for overcoming current obstacles to companies and the low level of entrepreneurship.The main problem is to consolidate new companies. Administrative complexity, a lack of finance and insufficient specific measures are the chief obstacles to their incorporation and consolidation.The Council calls for a coherent and distinct political strategy, better coordination between different levels of government and a greater involvement of the social partners.There are fewer women than men entrepreneurs, and than in other comparable countries, owing to a lack of social and cultural support.Tax incentives should be aimed at new companieswhose activity is based on technology and high-added-value goods, along with those generating employment, innovation and technological progress.The Council also calls for stronger links between the science and technology sector and economic activity.The Report notes that of the three million companies currently in existence, virtually half consist of a single self-employed person. Moreover 94% of companies have less than 10 employees and 99% less than 50.The Council proposes encouraging the transfer of family companies to third parties, including employees, since only 15% of them survive to the third generation.The Report notes that the education system does little to foster entrepreneurship, and that entrepreneurship should start to be promoted from pre-university levels.Half of all companies consist of a single self-employed person, and 94% have less than 10 employees and 99% less than 50.

OPINION 06/2005 on the draft Ministerial Order establishing conditions and requirements for the approval of railway rolling stock and regulations for the authorization and operation of maintenance centres for such stock, along with the amounts of the certification fees applicable thereto The draft Ministerial Order seeks to lay down the administrative conditions and procedures to be complied with and followed by railway rolling stock and rolling stock maintenance centres. Hence its importance, for it is to guarantee the viability and safety of the new railway system without erecting technical or administrative barriers to competition, especially during the transition to a competitive system.The Council considers that the Ministerial Order provides the necessary regulatory development for the new railway system, though it calls for guarantees of equal conditions for RENFE and any other operator. It proposes the setting up of an authorization and qualification system for maintenance technicians, of great importance to the sector. It also suggests that a reply be guaranteed in approval processes, and that approval should be deemed granted where there is no official response.

The Minister wants employers in five sectors (the construction, painting, agrarian and hotel & catering sectors and cultural institutions) to pay a contribution towards redundancy pay (wwwachtgeld)for employees in their sector. The amount of the contribution would be linked tothe duration of the employee's contract: a high rate would apply for employees with a contract of less than a year and a low rate for employees with a contract of a year or more. The SER Committee agrees with this approach, and adds that the sectors must be allowed to play amajor part in determining the amount. In addition, the Committee argues for the introduction of a regulation for occasional work in the five sectors, to prevent the higher rate from applying to vacation work or work-study programmes.

The Opinion sets out the present situation of NGOs in Greece and makes proposals for their active participation in the broader social dialogue in the country.

The Draft Law of the Ministry of Development regulates matters concerning relations between the "European Company" and the authorities, thus complementing Community Regulation 2157/2001 on the statutes of the "European Company".

The Draft Law of the Ministry of Health and Social Care sets out a code of conduct for doctors, which reflects important contemporary questions of ethics in the medical profession.

The SER notes from the Deputy Minister's request that the Cabinet wishes to devolve more responsibility for working conditions to employers and employees, and to drastically reduce government involvement. The SER observes that this would be in line with a general trend towards an increase in responsibility borne by employers and employees at company level and by the social partners at sector and central level. The SER believes that a good working conditions policy depends on responsibility being assumed by those most directly concerned. However, the SER also believes that the government should still maintain a clear and visible role in this area, especially in setting appropriate levels of protection by defining specific and unambiguous prescribed targets relevant to the level of protection in question, and by ensuring that such prescribed targets are enforced.

Strong population growth, the result of rising births and in-migration, was recorded in the 2002 Census and has been continuing since. The CSO projects that the population will grow by at least 25 per cent over the period 2006-2036. Because of uncertainty about future migration, the CSO makes a range of projections, and these vary by almost half a million.

On 19 October 2004, the Deputy Minister for Social Affairs and Employment requested an advisory report from the Committee for Working Conditions of the Social and Economic Council (SER) on a modified system for Occupational Exposure Limits (OELs)* ? the maximum permissible concentration of a given gas, vapour, fibre or dust in the air in the workplace.In response the Committee has sketched out the contours of a European OEL system in its advisory report. This system would have to be operated in all EU member states in the same way and be supplemented with individual national systems. The ultimate goal would be to establish a single European system with a European health-based foundation for the limits and a European feasibility test. According to the Committee, the Dutch government and its social partners should take the initiative in actively supporting the development of a European system.

Advice on the following questions which were submitted to the SER:- How does the Services Directive relate to the Treaty?- Which sectors must come under the Directive?- How should the consequences of the country of origin principle on the employment market and on control and enforcement be dealt with?

Tourism is the most prosperous industry of Bulgarian economy, which characterizes with dynamic development and sustainable growth rates that have best expressed for the last ten years. Its contribution to the GDP of the country is undisputable. A law and sub-law regulatory base has been adopted for the operation and development of tourism in our country.<br>In spite of the increasing results and the contribution of tourism to the development of the Bulgarian economy, a number of problems have been generated and are at hand, which set back the free, accelerated, and sustainable extension of the positions of the branch at home and abroad. The Opinion of the Council aims at drawing the attention of the public and the governmental bodies to the problems and eventual potentials for the solution.

The Council welcomes the introduction of homogenous criteria for the granting of large-family credentials pursuant to the new definitions provided in the Law, given that the various Autonomous Regions are responsible for granting large-family status and for issuing and renewing the corresponding credentials.The Opinion recalls in this connection that Spain is one of the countries that does least to protect the family in its social policies.Given the current diversity of benefits provided by the Autonomous Regions and local government, the Opinion points out the need to guarantee a minimum homogenous level of benefits for the whole country that is both sufficient and suitable to the protected situations. While respecting the current constitutional framework for the distribution of responsibilities, the State should guarantee social cohesion in this field through the various coordination mechanisms that are provided, such as Sectoral Conferences and the Concerted Social Service Plan.

The Council highlights the importance of the government?s devising and maintaining a national strategy for promoting social integration. The Plan should set specific objectives for a quantitative and qualitative reduction of the population in severe poverty, with indicators and a calendar for implementation. The actions directly aimed at fighting poverty and social exclusion should be identified more clearly, and the budgets allotted thereto made more specific, differentiated from those with general scope or that are aimed at groups which cannot be regarded as at risk of exclusion.The Council regrets the lack of consideration given to prospects for interregional equity in the Plan?s strategic content. The Council considers that the Plan should help guarantee a minimum standard of support nationwide, with an evaluation at national level of the degree of coordination and integration of the various measures to be implemented at regional and local level. This is particularly necessary in relation to social services and minimum income support, and in the fields of education, health and housing.

Protection against dismissal of the union delegates responsible for the missions of the Committee for Prevention and Protection at Work - Proposition of law of Ms. C. Nyssens modifying article 52, paragraph 2 of the law of 4 August 1996 concerning the well-being of workers at work - opinion 1522