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The Committee takes note of the Government’s report. It also notes the comments dated 12 January 2004 communicated by the Panhellenic Federation of University Graduate Engineer Civil Servant Unions (POEMDYDAS) and the Government’s observations thereon.

The Committee notes that according to POEMDYDAS, the Government has not implemented a special collective agreement concluded on 29 November 2002 between the Government and the trade union in question. The Committee takes note of the information communicated by the Government according to which the collective agreement in question has been implemented through various pieces of legislation including Presidential Decree 191/2003 "Statute of the Ministry of Culture" (O.G. 146A), Presidential Decree 265/2003 "Amendment of the Presidential Decree 110/2001 - Statute of the Ministry of the Aegean" (O.G.237A), Ministerial Decision DIDAD/F66/77/OIK7922/22-4-2003 and section 5 of Act No. 3200/2003. These provisions concern, according to the Government, the appointment of engineers holding university degrees as heads of directorates, sections and offices in organizational units dealing with technical issues, the regulation of the way in which a special performance allowance is to be paid to engineers and the right of public sector engineers accused of offences committed when on duty to be provided with legal defence by a representative of the Legal Council of the State (except where the complaint is lodged by the public service). The Committee takes note of this information.

The Committee also notes from the Government’s report that since the year 2000 when Act No. 2738/99 was adopted allowing public employees to benefit from the right to collective bargaining, four collective contracts and four collective agreements were adopted in the public sector for the year 2000, four collective contracts and 15 collective agreements for the year 2001 and nine collective contracts and 14 collective agreements for the year 2002.