Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1998, published 87th ILC session (1999)

1. The Committee notes the Government's report for the period ending May 1998 and the information that it contains on the matters raised in its previous observation. It notes that the period was marked by a substantial contraction of total employment, which declined by 1.2 per cent in 1996 and 1.3 per cent in 1997, and by a rise in the unemployment rate, which reached 11.6 per cent at the beginning of 1998. In the eastern Länder, the continuation of structural adjustment was accompanied by job losses which contributed to a rise in the unemployment rate to nearly 18 per cent. The Government considers that the continuing difficulties on the labour market are principally of a structural nature and states that it has undertaken to respond to them by implementing its programme of action for investment and employment, which is designed to encourage private economic initiative by a more conducive fiscal policy, deregulation and privatization, with a view to stimulating competition and improving the access of small and medium-sized enterprises to capital markets. In the eastern Länder, the Government and the social partners agreed in May 1997 on a "joint initiative" to moderate wage demands and promote investment. The Government regrets in this respect that the representatives of the trade unions ended their participation in the initiative in May 1998. The Committee notes the Government's confidence as to the expected effects on employment of measures principally designed to promote supply in a context in which internal demand remains low. It requests it to continue providing detailed information on the manner in which overall and sectoral economic policy measures to promote employment are decided on and kept under review in consultation with the representatives of employers and workers, in accordance with Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention.

2. The Committee notes that structural reforms have also been undertaken during the period in the functioning of the labour market to make the regulations applicable to dismissals more flexible, promote greater flexibility in working hours and introduce stricter conditions for entitlement to unemployment benefit. It requests the Government to provide any evaluation that is available of the impact of these various labour market reform measures on the employment situation and, more generally, on the pursuit of the objective of full, productive and freely chosen employment, as set out in the Convention.

3. The Government states that the reduction in the number of beneficiaries of job creation, training and retraining measures contributed to the contraction of employment in both the east and west of the country. The Committee notes in this respect the detailed description of the active labour market policy measures provided by the Government in its report on the application of Convention No. 88. It notes that, with the coming into force of the Act of 1997 reforming employment promotion and the new provisions of Book III of the Social Code, emphasis is now given to direct placement on the primary labour market through a new insertion contract for the long-term unemployed, subsidies for recruitment and training measures for reinsertion. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information in its next report on the number of beneficiaries of these various measures and on the results that they achieve in terms of the integration of the persons concerned into employment.

4. Article 3. The Government refers, in terms of the effect given to this Article, to the hearings of the representatives of organizations of employers and workers by the parliamentary Labour and Social Affairs Commission. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee recalls that the consultations required by this provision should cover all aspects of employment policy within the meaning of the Convention, both as regards its formulation and implementation. It requests the Government to describe in its next report the manner in which such consultations are ensured.