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The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its reports for the period ending in May 2003.

1. Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. The Government states that the period under consideration has seen an improvement in the economic situation and a recovery of job creation principally as a result of the acceleration of economic growth. GDP grew, on average, by 3.8 per cent in the years 1997-2002, the activity rate rose to 55.4 per cent in 2002 (70.8 per cent for men and 40.9 per cent for women) and the unemployment rate fell by 1.3 per cent in relation to 2000, to the level of 9.6 per cent. The proportion of long-term unemployment among the unemployed fell by 3.6 per cent to the level of 52.8 per cent. The increase in employment has principally been registered in services and the secondary sector. The number of self-employed workers fell by 3.1 per cent. The unemployment rate for women has decreased (14 per cent in the last three months of 2002 versus 16.1 per cent for the same period in 2001), but remains high. There remain substantial differences between the regions in relation to employment and unemployment rates. In general, the lowest employment rates and the highest unemployment rates are to be found in Epirus and the West of Macedonia due to the lower level of economic development in these regions. The youth unemployment rate has fallen, partly due to the increased participation of young persons in training programmes.

2. The Government indicates that, despite this favourable economic situation, total employment during the period under consideration remained stagnant due to the long-term trend in the contraction of employment in the agricultural sector and an increase in the number of workers leaving their jobs following changes to the social security system. The Government states that one of the three fundamental principles on which its economic and social policy is based for the decade 2000-10 is the strengthening of competitiveness through accelerated development and the creation of new jobs. Various labour market policy measures have been adopted for this purpose, including the Budget Act of 2002, which grants fiscal incentives to enterprises creating jobs, and the Tax Act on Corporate Governance that provides for social policy measures, among which is the granting of a special disbursement to the long-term unemployed who have a very low family income and have exceeded the period during which they were entitled to a regular benefit. The Committee asks the Government to continue providing information on the various labour market policy measures referred to in the reports and their impact on employment. It also requests additional information on policies in the fields of training, vocational rehabilitation and retraining, as well as on measures to improve labour productivity.

3. The Government has introduced a "Programme of new jobs" in 2002 which comprises a variety of active labour market measures and modifies the criteria for distribution of jobs by the Prefecture and Employment Service. The new distribution criteria are based on the following parameters: the period of time registered unemployed with the Prefecture and Employment Service, the completion of demand of enterprise requests, and the data provided by the National Statistical Service of Greece (ESYE). The Government also explains that the ESYE has recently introduced modifications in the collection of data for labour force surveys that will provide a more accurate overall picture of the labour market and improve their quality. The Committee notes this information and hopes that the Government will continue to report on further developments in this respect including details on the eventual data and conclusions drawn from updated ESYE Population Census and Labour Force Surveys. 

4. Article 3. The Government indicates that it endeavours to maintain and develop relations with the social partners, particularly in the context of the Employment and Labour Organization (OAED) and the Management Committee of the Employment and Vocational Training Fund (LAEK). The Committee hopes that the Government will continue to provide information on the manner in which the representatives of the persons affected are consulted with regard to employment policies, with an indication of the manner in which their views are taken into consideration in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of employment programmes and policies.