32. Welcomes the reduction in the overall unemployment rate from 29,9 % in the first quarter of 2013 to 27,9 % in the third quarter of 2014; calls on the government to renew its efforts to further reduce structural and long-term unemployment, in particular among young people (for whom the rate stands at over 50 %) and vulnerable groups including the Roma; calls for the adoption of reforms to increase labour force participation and labour mobility as well as to reduce the large informal sector which continues to hamper competition; is concerned that the level of education and training of the workforce often fails to correspond to the r ...[+++]eal needs of the economy, and that a large number of young skilled workers are consequently being forced to emigrate owing to the difficulty of finding adequate employment opportunities within the country; expresses its concern at recent legislative changes that challenge the right to strike, and calls on the authorities to revise the legislation in line with ILO standards;

4. Notes that the 587 redundancies in question have severely affected the local labour market with the unemployment rate rising from 8,2 % in the first quarter of 2008 to 22,70 % in the first quarter of 2013; considers that the unemployment situation in the affected region seems particularly fragile given the extremely low population density in Soria, one of the two provinces affected by the redundancies, and the high dependency of the affected territory on wood sector due to its extremely low population density the redundancies in this region also have a serious impact on the local economy;

7. Notes, however, that the level of committed appropriations carried over to 2013 was high for title II (administrative expenditure) at 35 % and title III (operating expenditure) at 46 %; acknowledges that for title II, this was caused, to a large extent, by events beyond the Agency’s control, such as the late invoicing of the 2012 office rental costs by the Spanish authorities; notes, moreover, that in order to meet the increased operational needs it was faced with in the last quarter of 2012, the Agency ordered a high volume of goods and services for which delivery was still pending by the end of the year; acknowledges that for title III, an important reason for the high level of carry-overs was the considerable workload faced by the ...[+++]agency as a result of the large number of IT projects that were either launched or ongoing in 2012 and this workload had an impact on the timeliness of procurement procedures in the case of two IT projects launched in 2012; acknowledges, furthermore, that expenses related to training and missions undertaken by staff and experts in the last quarter of 2012 were only due for reimbursement at the beginning of 2013;

53. Welcomes the increase in GDP of 2,9 % in real terms in the first quarter of 2013 as compared with the same quarter in 2012; notes the trend of positive changes in the labour market, with the number of employed in the first quarter of 2013 being 3,9 % higher than that for the same quarter in 2012, while the annual unemployment rate fell by 4,2 %; welcomes the ranking of the country in the World Bank’s ‘Doing Business’ report as being among the top ten in the world showing the greatest progress in the business and regulatory environment;

52. Welcomes the increase in GDP of 2.9 % in real terms in the first quarter of 2013 as compared with the same quarter in 2012; notes the trend of positive changes in the labour market, with the number of employed in the first quarter of 2013 being 3.9 % higher than that for the same quarter in 2012, while the annual unemployment rate fell by 4.2 %; welcomes the ranking of the country in the World Bank’s ‘Doing Business’ report as being among the top ten in the world showing the greatest progress in the business and regulatory environment;

Commission Regulation (EC) No 377/2008 of 25 April 2008 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98 on the organisation of a labour force sample survey in the Community as regards the codification to be used for data transmission from 2009 onwards, the use of a sub-sample for the collection of data on structural variables and the definition of the reference quarters (OJ L 114 of 26.4.2008, pp. 57-84).