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In recent years the Spanish economy has undergone a process of recovery.
After the recession of the early 1990s, a cycle of growth began, parallel to
that of other countries in the European Union. In 1997, GDP rose by 3.4% -
compared with 2.1% in 1994, 2.8% in 1995 and 2.1% in 1996. This was mainly
due to the increase in domestic consumption, investment and industrial
activity and the resurgence of construction. The prospects for growth in 1998
are also optimistic, with forecasts of around 3.6%. This has been
particularly helped by the fall in inflation, which at 2.1% in 1997, was the
lowest for 30 years. This low inflation rate has led to a reduction in
interest rates, which were very high in the 1980s. The public deficit has
also been reduced through restrictive budgets and privatisation of public
companies (ES9709123N [1]). The public deficit stood at 2.6% of GDP in 1997.
According to Eurostat figures, the unemployment rate stood at 20.8% in 1997,
compared with 22.2% in 1996 and 24.3% in 1995. The number of those in
employment increased by about 371,000 in 1997 in comparison with 1996.
Nevertheless, fewer jobs were created than in the previous year, despite
greater economic growth.

[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/a-new-step-in-the-privatisation-of-the-industrial-public-sector-in-spain

Future Community actions on education and training are to be limited to
measures under three key priorities, according to a Communication issued by
the European Commission on 21 November 1997. The priorities are:

There are two inter-related factors within UK workplace relations which,
arguably, are both caused by, and solvable by British managers. The first is
an increase in workplace stress - the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), for
example, has recently released figures (in its /Health and safety statistics
1996/7/) showing that half a million people believe that they are suffering
from work-related stress. The second is the need for high-performing
companies. Both of these are in large part dependent on the type of managers
within the workplace. All too often in the UK - according to some
commentators - job insecurity, work intensification and "bossy" management
are seen as the answer to improving performance, but are also the cause of
much stress.

During 1997, the annual GDP growth rate reached 3.4%. Economic growth was
accompanied by a fall in inflation: the annual increase in the GDP deflator
(which measures changes in prices of all goods and services included in
national GDP) fell from 14.4% in 1993 to 6.5% in 1997; while the consumer
prices index rose by 5.2% in 1997. Particularly spectacular was the reduction
of the public deficit from 13.8% of GDP in 1993 to 5% in 1997. However,
increased production, reduced inflation and improved public finances were
accompanied by a constant rise in unemployment, from 9.6% in 1994 to 10.4% in
1997, while long-term unemployment now accounts for 50% of all unemployed
persons. The improvement in public finances was also accompanied by a
significant rise in tensions in the field of industrial relations.

At present, Sweden has no legislation expressly forbidding discrimination in
working life on grounds of sexual orientation. At the beginning of 1997 the
Government appointed a committee with the task of investigating if there was
a need for such legislation.

The Austria Government has taken three new measures aimed at facilitating
youth employment. In the first, a clause was added to the Federal Tendering
Act (Bundesvergabegesetz), as part of the general tendering conditions,
requiring that in awarding tenders for contracts, the employment of persons
on a training contract be taken into account. Parliament approved this
change. No explicit mention of apprenticeship contracts was made, because
this would conflict with European Union regulations. The new clause takes
effect from 1 January 1998.

Following the severe economic recession of the early 1990s, the Finnish
economy has more recently been characterised by a period of economic growth
and relative stability. In 1997, economic growth rates amounted to 5.9%. This
improved economic position also led to a reduction in unemployment, from a
rate of 15.6% in 1996 to 14.5% in 1997. However, employment opportunities
were primarily generated for young and highly-skilled people, while older
workers and the low-skilled continued to suffer from long-term unemployment.
Inflation decreased to 1.3% and the public deficit was reduced to 0.9% of
GDP.

In November 1997, the general assembly of Luxembourg's sickness insurance
funds decided by a majority vote to raise employers' and employees'
contributions in order to restabilise the budget.

Since the beginning of the 1990s, the German system of branch-level
collective agreements (branchenbezogene Flächentarifverträge) has been in
an continuing process of change in the direction of a differentiation between
companies of collectively agreed norms and standards, and a decentralisation
of bargaining competence to the company level. Two basic paths to
decentralisation can be distinguished:

In 1993, the Restaurants and Brewery Workers Union in Denmark (Restaurations-
og Bryggeriarbejder Forbund i Danmark, RBF) signed a collective agreement
with a nationwide restaurant chain. RBF was able to come to terms with the
restaurant chain, which was not a member of an employers' organisation, only
by agreeing to less favourable terms and conditions (in terms of flexible
working hours and overtime premia) than those specified in its main agreement
with the sectoral employers' association, the Association of the Hotel,
Restaurant, and Leisure Industry in Denmark (Hotel, Restaurations- og
Turisterhvervets Arbejdsgiverforening, HORESTA).