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The Committee notes the Government’s report and the comment of the General Workers’ Union attached.

1. The Committee notes that, following the entry into force of Framework Act No. 32/2002 of 23 December, establishing a new structure for the social security system, extensive reforms are being carried out in its various branches, including in particular medical care, unemployment benefit and old-age benefit. Referring to these reforms, the General Workers’ Union states that in future problems may arise with the financial sustainability of the system. The Government’s twenty-first report on the application of the European Code of Social Security indicates in this respect that studies have been carried out on the financial equilibrium of the social security system with a view to the adoption of measures ensuring its financial viability, and that resources obtained from the increase of the VAT from 19 to 21 per cent have been allocated in equal parts to the financing of the social security of employees and of the pension fund of public officials (CGA). The report on Convention No. 102 mentions automatic transfer of a certain part of employees’ contributions to the reserve fund until it is sufficient to cover foreseeable pension expenditure for a minimum of two years. The Committee observes that these measures comply with Article 71, paragraph 3, of the Convention, which requires governments to ensure that actuarial studies and calculations concerning financial equilibrium of the system are made periodically and consequent changes are applied to contribution rates or taxes allocated to covering the contingencies in question. In accepting general responsibility for the sustainable development of the social security system, governments should also see to it that the voice of the representatives of the persons protected or their representative associations is clearly heard at all levels of management of the social security system, particularly when attention is drawn to vital problems. The Committee wishes to emphasize that the periodical assessment measures set out in Article 71, paragraph 3, of the Convention and the participatory management of the system foreseen in Article 72, paragraph 1, provide the best guarantees that the social security system is governed in a knowledgeable and transparent manner, permitting to avoid and prevent risks of its financial disequilibrium and unsustainable development. In view of the preoccupations expressed by the General Workers’ Union, the Committee would like the Government to furnish detailed information on the measures adopted or envisaged to safeguard the long-term future of the social security system, as well as to further promote through the reform process a strong role for workers’ organizations and the participation of representatives of the persons protected at its various levels of management.

2. Part IV (Unemployment benefit). Article 23 of the Convention. In its previous observation, the Committee requested the Government to reduce the excessively long qualifying period for entitlement to unemployment benefit of 540 working days of salaried employment over the last 24 months to make it consistent with Article 23 of the Convention. The Committee notes with satisfaction that Legislative Decree No. 84/2003 of 24 April, established special temporary measures of protection of unemployed workers under the new Programme of Employment and Social Protection (PEPS), reduced this qualifying period to 270 days of employment with the corresponding record of remuneration over the 12-month period prior to the date of unemployment. The Committee further notes with interest that the draft law establishing the new regime of protection against unemployment is in the phase of public discussion. It draws the Government’s attention to the possibility of having recourse to the technical expertise of the ILO for assessing the compatibility of the draft legislation with the provisions of the relevant international instruments.