Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1995, published 83rd ILC session (1996)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Belgium (Ratification: 1969)

1. The Committee notes the Government's report for the period ending June 1994. The Government indicates in the report that the economic recession in 1993 resulted in a heavy decline in employment and a new rise in the unemployment rate, which reached 11.9 per cent in 1993 and 12.6 per cent in 1994. However, it states that the recovery of growth should lead to a flattening out of the unemployment rate, which would appear to be confirmed by the most recent OECD estimates, which point to an unemployment rate of 12.4 per cent in 1995. Among the structural characteristics of unemployment, which the Government considers still to be a matter of concern, the Committee notes the substantial rise in the unemployment rate for young persons, the persistence of broad regional disparities and the continued substantial rise in long-term unemployment. Another picture of the labour market situation is given by the estimate of a broad definition of unemployment (including the persons covered by special programmes) which the OECD considers to be around one-quarter of the active population.

2. As in its previous reports, the Government describes in detail all the labour market policy measures implemented to encourage employers to offer new jobs through measures to reduce social contributions for the recruitment of a first employee, a young person or a worker affected by long-term unemployment; to encourage withdrawals from the labour market through an early pensions scheme; and to achieve a better balance between the supply and demand for labour by promoting a redistribution of work negotiated at the enterprise level and through career breaks. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would supplement this information by an evaluation of each of these measures in order to make it possible to assess their impact on the employment of the persons affected, as well as on the overall employment situation. The Committee also notes that the 1978 Act respecting contracts of employment has been amended to authorize on a temporary basis the conclusion of consecutive fixed-term contracts. It requests the Government to indicate the measures which have been taken or are envisaged to ensure that this measure has the effect of creating new jobs, rather than making existing jobs more precarious. More generally, it would be grateful if the Government would indicate, in the light of recent experience, whether the implementation of the various measures to eliminate or reduce a number of rigidities on the labour market has made it possible to increase the employment potential of growth.

3. The Government also refers to the conclusion of the inter-occupational agreement for 1993-94, which provides that the social partners have to take into account in their negotiations the effects of wage costs on competitiveness and employment. It also describes the major strategies of the overall plan for employment, competitiveness and the social security adopted in November 1993, which is designed to encourage the distribution of work, promote employment for young persons and reduce the cost of labour. The Government considers that the high cost of labour is a barrier to employment and that this barrier can be reduced through the financing of social security, by making it more favourable to employment generation. The Government's description of the various measures which have been adopted or are envisaged sheds light on the link that it is seeking to establish between labour market reform, the reform of the social security system and employment policy. The Committee notes that these questions were covered by standards adopted in 1988 (the Employment Promotion and Protection Against Unemployment Convention (No. 168) and Recommendation (No. 176)) which may, where appropriate, be a source of inspiration for the formulation of policies in these fields.

4. With reference to its previous observations, the Committee once again requests the Government to provide the information required by the report form on the measures adopted in fields such as monetary and budgetary policies. It would be grateful if the Government would indicate the manner in which it endeavours to ensure that their impact on employment is taken into account and that employment policy measures are decided upon and kept under review within the framework of a "coordinated economic and social policy", with a view to achieving the objectives set out in Article 1 of the Convention. The Committee notes that the Government considers it imperative to pursue an active employment policy which makes it possible to attain the objective of full employment in so far as possible. This policy should be the means of implementing the constitutional obligation newly introduced into statutory law by the adoption of the Act of 31 January 1994 to amend the Constitution, which now includes "the right to work and to the free choice of professional activity within the framework of a general employment policy" among the "economic, social and cultural rights" which form part of the right of every person to "lead a life worthy of human dignity".