[JURIST] Mexican President Felipe Calderon [official website, in Spanish] on Saturday introduced a draft bill aimed at liberalizing the country’s labor laws. The bill was introduced [Reuters report] in the Congress of Mexico by Interior Minister Alejandro Poire, and it seeks to improve the transparency of Mexico’s trade unions and make labor regulations more flexible. Lawmakers from both the Institutional Revolutionary Party and the National Action Party [party websites, in Spanish] have shown support for the legislation. Incoming president Enrique Pena Nieto [campaign website] of the Institutional Revolutionary Party has pledged to back the legislation. Calderon is seeking to fast track the legislation before he leaves office in November.

Calderon has also recently implemented environmental law reform in Mexico. In June Calderon signed [JURIST report] a climate change bill that introduces sweeping environmental reform. The bill requires the country to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 30 percent by 2020, requires that 35 percent of its energy come from renewable sources by 2024, requires mandatory emissions reporting, establishes a carbon-trading market and creates a commission to oversee implementation of the changes. The Mexican legislature passed the bill [JURIST report] in April with a vote of 128-10 in the Chamber of Deputies and a unanimous vote in the Senate [official websites, in Spanish].