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The Committee notes the Government’s statement that there has been no change in the application of the Convention during the reporting period. It also notes the observation made by the German Union of Civil Servants (Bund der Technischen Beamten, Angestellten und Arbeiter im Deutschen Beamtenbund) and the documents attached, dated 30 March 2004, which were forwarded to the Government on 22 June 2004, as well as of the Government’s partial reply to the points raised by the union.

According to the German Technical Civil Servants’, Employees’ and Workers’ Association, which is a member of the German Union of Civil Servants (Bund der Technischen Beamten, Angestellten und Arbeiter im Deutschen Beamtenbund), the Act to reform administrative structures and justice and to extend the negotiating power of local government in Baden-Württemberg state, which will come into force on 1 January 2005, does not comply with the requirements of the Convention in several areas, and particularly with Article 4, in conjunction with Articles 10 and 16.

1. Articles 4, 10 and 16 of the Convention. Control and supervision of the labour inspection system by a central authority; appropriate human resources and effectiveness of labour inspection. The above union expresses concern that the dissolution of the former separate labour inspectorates in Baden-Württemberg and their merger into the German common administrative structure will limit the extent of supervision by the central authority and prejudice the effectiveness of labour inspection within the jurisdiction of the Land. The reasons invoked include the distribution of the former labour inspection staff to regional districts (Regierungsbezirke) and subregional districts (Landkreise/Stadkreise), which does not, as required in Article 10 of the Convention, take into account the number of enterprises covered or the size of each of the subregional districts. According to the union, this is likely to result in disparities in the frequency of inspections, thereby considerably affecting the effectiveness of labour inspection (Article 16) in the subregional districts. One-third (269.5) of the labour inspection staff will be located in regional district offices covering 1,000 enterprises, while two-thirds (500) will have to cover 290,000 enterprises in subregional districts.

With regard to the changes introduced by the new Act in the structure of the labour inspection system in the Land of Baden-Württemberg and their impact on effectiveness of labour inspection, the Government indicates that the supervision and control of the labour inspection system, as envisaged by the law, will remain fully guaranteed, since the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Land will be entrusted with the role of the central authority referred to in Article 4, paragraph 2, of the Convention. While the Committee agrees that, in itself, the integration of the labour inspection system into the common administrative structure of the Land is not an infringement of the Convention, it however notes that the Government has not commented on the other point raised by the union, namely, the risk that the unbalanced reallocation of the staff of the former labour inspection system might jeopardize the application of Article 16, particularly in certain subregional districts. The Committee would therefore be grateful if the Government would indicate its views and make any other comments in this regard, and indicate whether measures have been taken to ensure that the enforcement of the new Act will not prejudice the application of the fundamental principles set out in the Convention with respect to the definition of the scope and principal functions of the labour inspection system (Articles 1 and 3 of the Convention), the need for an appropriate distribution of the inspection staff based on the established criteria (Article 10), the status and conditions of service of the labour inspection staff (Article 6), their qualification level (Article 7), their powers (Articles 12, 13 and 17) and their obligations and duties (Articles 15 and 19).

2. Articles 20 and 21. Annual inspection report. The Committee notes with interest the detailed labour inspection reports submitted. However, referring to its previous comments of 2000, it once again hopes that the Government will envisage sending to the ILO a consolidated annual labour inspection report summarizing the content of all the annual reports of the Länder, including those that have still not been received by the Office.