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The Committee notes the Government's report.

The Committee also notes the information of the Government to the effect that in the framework of technical cooperation the Office has provided it with a draft to address the comments of the Committee, and the Tripartite Committee concerning international labour issues is working on preparing draft reforms by consensus to put before the Congress of the Republic.

The Committee had asked the Government to amend section 2(d) of the Regulation for the procedures of negotiation, official approval and rejection of collective agreements, dated 19 May 1994, which requires a draft collective agreement to be submitted to the General Labour Inspectorate together with the certification of the fact that the General Assembly of the trade union in question voted, by a majority of two-thirds of its total membership, to authorize those serving on its executive committee to conclude, approve and endorse, subject to a referendum or definitively, the draft agreement, since it considered that the required percentage was too high and that it could well obstruct the conclusion of collective agreements. The Committee notes that the Government reports the existence of a tripartite committee to draft reforms in this regard, and asks the Government to take the measures necessary to ensure that the point in question comes before the Committee, and to keep it informed in this connection.

Equally, regarding Legislative Decree No. 35-96, which under its section 2(a) provides that bargaining in respect of collective agreements or conventions in the public sector shall take into account the legal possibilities of the general state income and expenditure budget, the Committee requested the Government to establish a mechanism whereby trade union organizations and employers are adequately consulted so as to be able to express their points of view to the financial authorities sufficiently in advance, so that these authorities may take due account of them when formulating the budget. The Committee notes that the Government indicates in its report that section 53(b) of the Labour Code provides that workers may denounce a collective agreement in force at least one month before its expiry date. This means that the denunciation and subsequent consultations, where the workers may express their point of view before the financial authorities, may take place sufficiently in advance prior to the elaboration and approval of the State Budget. The Committee notes that while the period allowed for consultation is adequate, no legislation has been introduced to ensure the consultation process. Consequently, the Committee again requests the Government to take the measures necessary to amend the legislation as indicated and inform it in its next report in this connection.