Observación (CEACR) - Adopción: 1994, Publicación: 81ª reunión CIT (1994)

Convenio sobre la política del empleo, 1964 (núm. 122) - Portugal (Ratificación : 1981)

1. The Committee notes the Government's report for the period ending June 1992 which shows that there was an increase of 2.7 per cent in registered unemployment between June 1990 and June 1992, as a result of a 16.2 increase in male unemployment and a drop of 3.7 per cent in female unemployment. The OECD data indicate that employment growth in 1990 and 1991 had the initial effect of reducing the unemployment rate from 4.6 per cent in 1990 to 4.1 per cent in 1991, but that the drop in employment in 1992 sent the unemployment rate back up to approximately 5 per cent in 1993 despite a drop in activity levels. While the gap between male and female unemployment narrowed, the youth unemployment rate remained more than twice the overall rate and over 30 per cent of the unemployed have been without work for more than a year. The Committee notes the changes made in the definitions established for the purposes of the 1992 active population survey and would be grateful if the Government would provide as detailed as possible information on the level and trends of employment, unemployment and underemployment among the various categories of the population for the period 1992-94 which, according to OECD forecasts could see a rapid deterioration in the unemployment situation.

2. The Government's report indicates that the programme for the structural correction of the external deficit and unemployment, to which the Committee referred in its previous observation, was followed by a number of legislative measures, particularly aimed at the extension of training. Indeed, the programme for the training and integration of adults (FIA) begun in 1991 is an essential element of the Government's labour market policy. The purpose of the programme is to promote the integration of the long-term unemployed through training and recruitment, giving incentives to enterprises and focusing particularly on women, older workers and persons with disabilities. The Committee notes that the number of beneficiaries of the various training and retraining measures has grown significantly, and asks the Government to provide in its next report any available evaluations of the results obtained in terms of lasting integration in employment. The Committee also notes with interest the information on the implementation of the System of Incentives for Industrial Diversification in the Vale do Ave (SINDAVE). It would be grateful if the Government would continue to provide information on the way in which industrial policy and regional development measures contribute to promoting employment, indicating in particular the employment objectives of the 1994-99 Regional Development Plan recently adopted. More generally, it hopes that future reports will not be confined to labour market and training policies and that they will also refer to overall economic policies and deal with the links between employment objectives and other economic and social objectives. The Committee would appreciate receiving information on the "convergence programme" for 1992-95 which defines a medium-term economic strategy with a view to accession to the European Economic and Monetary Union and provides for labour market reforms (according to the 1993 OECD economic survey).

3. The Committe notes with interest that an Agreement on vocational training policy has been concluded by the Government and all the employers' and workers' organizations, which bears witness to the social partners' contribution to defining the broad lines of employment policy. It also notes that an Economic and Social Council was created in 1991, which includes a standing committee on social cooperation. The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide information on the way in which consultation with representatives of persons affected is ensured, in both framing and implementing employment policies.

4. Lastly, with reference to its previous observation, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide information on the scope and implementation of the reform of the labour market and on the various measures to increase its flexibility, indicating their effects, either noted or expected, on the employment objectives of the Convention.