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The Committee notes the very detailed information provided by the Government in its report and the annexes to the report.

1. The Committee notes with interest the entry into force of Act No. 12/2001 adopting urgent measures to reform the labour market with a view to increasing and improving the quality of employment. It notes that the Act envisages a series of measures intended to increase stable employment, with a broadening of the categories of women who can benefit from incentives for permanent contracts, either full time or part time. It also notes Act No. 39/1999 to promote the reconciliation of work and family life for women workers, to which the Committee will refer in its comments on Convention No. 156. The Committee also notes the various legislative measures adopted to promote the integration of persons with disabilities into the labour market.

2. The Committee notes the information provided on the employment programmes carried out in 2000 by the Institute for Women. It also notes the intention to strengthen the action of existing procedures to ensure the application of the principle of equality, with the objective of coordinating policies on equality of opportunity with the aim of attaining the average level of women’s employment in the European Union. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the activities and studies undertaken by the Observatory of Equality of Opportunities for Men and Women in so far as they relate to equality in employment and occupation.

3. The Committee notes that, according to the statistics compiled by the Institute for Women, a total of 59.29 per cent of students with university degrees are women, although this figure falls to 26.27 per cent for technical university courses, with 57.92 per cent of women with degrees having followed courses in law and social science. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the vocational guidance programmes offered to young persons, avoiding stereotypes and archaic approaches leading to an occupation or profession being reserved for persons of a specific sex.

4. The Committee also notes the precariousness of women in employment, taking into account the high rate of part-time work by women in comparison with men. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the influence of "family responsibilities" in leading women to opt for this type of employment.

5. The Committee notes with interest the rulings issued in 1999 and 2000 by the Supreme Court, the higher courts and the Constitutional Court relating to the principle of non-discrimination on grounds of sex in employment and occupation, with particular reference to the ruling which found that the encouragement of men to seek a job in an enterprise was a discriminatory practice, despite the fact that there was no inequality of treatment in the selection process, since discrimination had already been perpetrated indirectly, with more men than women applying for the job.

6. The Committee notes the concern expressed by the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1999 (document A/54/38, paragraphs 236-277) at the situation of Spanish women on the labour market. In its report, CEDAW emphasizes that the employment rate of women is one of the lowest in Western European countries, that women continued to be inadequately represented in jobs corresponding to their educational level, that the unemployment rate of women is almost double that of men, that women earn on average approximately 30 per cent less than men and that the promotion of part-time work does not resolve the long-term structural issues raised by the double burden borne by women of paid and unpaid work. The Committee observes that the situation has not improved significantly in recent years. The Committee notes that, according to the statistics compiled by the Institute for Women: (a) the activity rate of women continues to be very much lower than that of men, irrespective of their level of training (39.8 per cent in 2000 and 40.36 per cent in 2001, while the rate for men was 63.8 and 64.19 per cent, respectively); (b) of the total employed population in 2001, only 37.86 per cent were women; (c) the unemployment rate of women is considerably higher than that of men (20.5 per cent in 2000 and 18.65 per cent in 2001, compared with 9.7 and 9.08 per cent, respectively). The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the activities undertaken by the Institute for Women and other bodies (including the equality organizations of the Autonomous Communities and the Sectoral Conference for Women) with a view to promoting equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation for women, particularly with regard to access to employment.

7. With regard to the activities of the labour inspectorate in relation to discrimination in conditions of work and access to employment, the Committee notes the information provided by the Government that, while the number of interventions increased significantly in 1999 and 2000 in relation to 1997 and 1998, the number of infringements reported is similar. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing statistical information on the infringements reported with regard to equality in employment and occupation on the grounds covered by the Convention. The Committee also requests the Government to indicate in future reports the grounds on which discrimination has occurred, and not just to confine itself to indicating that discrimination occurred "in respect of the conditions of other workers", or "discrimination in access to employment in respect of other workers".