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1. Labour market trends and active employment policy. The Committee notes the Government’s report received in October 2005, covering the period ending October 2004, and the comprehensive documentation attached. The Committee notes that, during the period under consideration, the employment rate remained stagnant (62.5 per cent in 2003 and 62.4 per cent in 2004) and that it was lower relative to the European average of 63.3 per cent (the target set within the framework of the European Employment Strategy is 70 per cent by 2010). The Committee notes the information provided in the National Action Plans for Employment (PNAE) for 2003 and 2004, and, in particular, the fact that improving the dynamism of the labour market and creating sustainable employment constitute one of the Government’s main priorities. In this regard, the Committee notes the various measures to promote economic activity, which are listed in the Government’s report (reduction of employers’ social security contributions, the new scale for the prime pour l’emploi (working tax credit) in 2003, and measures to facilitate the creation of enterprises). The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide information on the results achieved through the implementation of recently adopted and ongoing measures, and indicate the strategic employment policy priorities targeted by these measures (Articles 1, paragraph 1, and 2 of the Convention).

2. Labour market policies for young people. The Committee notes that during the period examined, the OECD standardized unemployment rate remained stagnant (9.5 per cent in 2003 and 9.6 per cent in 2004), whilst the youth unemployment rate rose to over two times that of the active population as a whole (from 20.1 per cent in 2003 to 21.3 per cent in 2004). The Committee notes that, according to the Government’s report, 57,000 young people who had been unemployed for one year were to be interviewed individually by the National Employment Agency before the end of September 2005, and that the number of work placement contracts (CAE) was to be increased from 20,000 to 100,000. The Government indicates that one of the objectives of the employment policy for young people is to bring them closer to enterprises by strengthening work-based training and by facilitating their direct integration into enterprises. To realize this objective, the Government has established various subsidized contracts for those who are least qualified: the contrat jeunes en entreprise (young people in the enterprise contract); the contrat d’insertion des jeunes dans la vie sociale (integration of young people into society contract); and the contrat soutien à l’emploi des jeunes en entreprises (support for the employment of young people in enterprises contract). The Committee notes that, with regard to young people who have left school without any diplomas or qualifications (in 2003, 19.1 per cent of young people of 22 years of age had no secondary school diploma), an adapted military service offering recognized training and supervision will be proposed to those who are interested. This scheme aims to provide training for 20,000 young people in 2007. In this regard, the Committee refers to paragraph 9 of the Conclusions on promoting pathways to decent work for youth, adopted at the 93rd Session of the Conference, which states that whilst employment cannot be directly created but only encouraged by legislation or regulation, it is recognized that labour legislation and regulation based on international labour standards can provide employment protection and underwrite increased productivity, which are basic conditions in order to create decent work, particularly for young people. The Committee invites the Government to provide information in its next report on the results achieved through measures taken to promote decent employment for young people, particularly for those who have few or no qualifications (Article 1, paragraph 2).

3. Labour market policies for older workers. The Committee notes that the employment rate for older workers is one of the lowest in the European Union (37 per cent in 2004) and that, in this respect, the Government refers in detail to the provisions of the Act of 21 August 2003 reforming pensions, which envisages prolonging the period of insurance and thus the working life of a worker, by encouraging workers over 55 years of age to remain in employment, particularly by limiting recourse to early retirement pensions and by creating work opportunities for those over 60 years of age. Annual negotiations in enterprises must now address, every three years, the issue of access to employment for older workers, the retaining of such workers in employment, and their access to vocational training. The Committee invites the Government to provide, in its next report, information on the results achieved through the measures taken to promote the continued employment and reintegration into the labour market of older workers (Article 1, paragraph 2).

4. Education and training policies. The Committee notes that since 2002, long-term unemployment has risen significantly (from 33.8 per cent in 2002 to 41.7 per cent in 2004). The Government indicates that the New Start Personalized Action Programme (PAP-ND), which, in July 2001, reformed the system for monitoring the unemployed, enabled the number of return-to-work assistance benefits to increase by 84 per cent between 2001 and 2002, although additional support concerned only 17 per cent of unemployed persons. The number of unemployed persons benefiting from the employment initiative contract (CIE) between their 12th and 24th month of unemployment increased due to the relaxation of access requirements (93,000 employees were recruited in 2004). The Government also refers to the adoption of the Act of 4 May 2004 on lifelong vocational training and social dialogue, which establishes the individual right to training and contains provisions on contracts and periods of vocational integration. This Act follows the interoccupational agreement concluded by the social partners in December 2003. In response to the Committee’s 2003 direct request, the Government indicates that the decentralization movement was pursued by the Act of 27 February 2002 on local democracy and the Act of 13 August 2004 on local freedoms and responsibilities, which give regional councils general competence in respect of vocational training for young people and adults who are seeking employment or a new direction in their career. They must, in consultation with the State and employers’ and workers’ organizations, devise a regional plan to develop vocational training for young people and adults. The Committee invites the Government to continue providing information on the measures adopted within the framework of education and training policies, and on their impact in terms of the sustainable integration of the most vulnerable categories of workers in the labour market.

5. Participation of the social partners in the preparation and formulation of policies. In response to the Committee’s 2003 direct request, the Government states that it firmly subscribes to a tradition of labour law that gives priority to collective bargaining, as witnessed by the adoption of the above Act of 4 May 2004. Bearing in mind the numerous initiatives taken to promote full employment, the Committee asks the Government to indicate, in its next report, the manner in which the representatives of the persons affected were consulted when policies were prepared and formulated “with a view to taking fully into account their experience and views and securing their full cooperation in formulating and enlisting support for such policies” (Article 3). The Committee recalls, in this regard, that it is the joint responsibility of governments and the representative organizations of employers and workers to ensure that representatives of the most vulnerable and marginalized groups of the active population are associated as closely as possible with the formulation and implementation of the measures of which they should be the prime beneficiaries (2004 General Survey on promoting employment, paragraph 493).