European Social Policy articles from April 2008

European Social Policy archives from April 2008

AaPROPOSAL FOR JUNE.(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... The new EU Health Commissioner, Androulla Vassiliou, will submit for adoption by the European Commission, in June, a proposal on the cross-border rights of patients and access to health care in the EU. She committed to this on 1 April before...

UNEMPLOYMENT : EU JOBLESS RATE DOWN TO 6.7%.(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... In the eurozone, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 7.1% in February 2008, unchanged compared with January. In the EU27, it was 6.7% in February 2008, compared with 6.8% in January. The jobless rate was 7.4% in February 2007,...

INTERVIEW WITH PHILIPPE DE BUCK, SECRETARY-GENERAL OF BUSINESSEUROPE : BUSINESS' MESSAGE TO MEPS: LISBON IS THE KEY.(Interview)
April 9, 2008... No one can say that the Parliament is pro-business, just as they can never say that it is pro-trade unions, pro-workers or pro-consumers, says Philippe de Buck, secretary-general of the confederation of European enterprises, BusinessEurope,...

EUROPEAN COUNCIL : BUSINESS PUSHES FOR FAST-TRACK IMPLEMENTATION OF LISBON REFORMS.
April 9, 2008... Europe's most viable response to the current uncertainty of the world's economy is a fast-track implementation of reforms foreseen by the Lisbon Strategy. That is the key message that European enterprises sent to the spring European Council, as...

CALL FOR IMMEDIATE SOCIAL ACTION.(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... The Social Platform has sent an open letter to EU leaders calling for social action. For social NGOs, the 2008 spring summit is the last chance to build trust with EU citizens before the European elections in 2009. In its open letter, the...

EUROPEAN COUNCIL : CALL TO NEGOTIATE SOCIAL IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE.
April 9, 2008... How can Europe's competitiveness be kept intact while combating climate change and addressing the needs of the poor? The European social partners and the EU institutions, meeting for the Tripartite Social Summit on 13 March, ahead of the spring...

HEALTH : COMMISSION WANTS TO TAKE ACTION AGAINST MEDICAL ERRORS.(European Commission)
April 9, 2008... The European Commission will make proposals to EU member states in late 2008 to help reduce the number of medical errors and "adverse events" in or outside hospitals, as well as to fight infection linked with healthcare more specifically. In...

CONFERENCE ON SOCIAL DIALOGUE.(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... The European Commission is organising a conference entitled Promoting best value through social dialogue', on 18 April. The conference's aim is to promote the handbooks issued by social partners in the following sectors: contract catering,...

SOCIAL SECURITY : COURT BOOSTS GAY PENSION RIGHTS.(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... In a closely-watched test case of gay rights, the EU Court of Justice handed victory, on 1 April, to campaigners against discrimination of same-sex partners. The judges ruled (in Case C-267/06) that a "survivor" of a homosexual partnership can...

COURT PROCEEDINGS OVER PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS.(Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Spain, France, Greece, Ireland and Luxembourg)(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... The European Commission announced, on 3 April, that it had referred eight member states (Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Spain, France, Greece, Ireland and Luxembourg) to the EU Court of Justice for their failure to notify measures taken to implement...

CZECH PRIORITIES FOR SENIORS.(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... According to the Czech Minister for Minorities and Human Rights, D amila Stehlikova, the Czech Republic should dedicate its EU Presidency, in the first semester of 2009, to the creation of a strategy for the protection of the elderly. It will...

LISBON STRATEGY : EAPN WANTS CONCRETE RESULTS FOR SOCIAL EUROPE.(European Anti-Poverty Network)(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... On the eve of the European summit of 13 and 14 March in Brussels, the European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN) has asked the 27 heads of state and government to make every effort to "tackle the unacceptable high levels of poverty in the EU". ...

SOCIAL SECURITY : ECJ: FLEMISH INSURANCE SCHEME IMPEDES FREE MOVEMENT.(European Union Court of Justice)(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... The EU Court of Justice has added fuel to the fire of the quarrel over social security between the Flemish and Walloon regions of Belgium. In a ruling on 1 April (Case C-212/06), the tribunal said that some features of a Flemish care insurance...

FREE MOVEMENT OF WORKERS : ECJ: FRENCH MARITIME LABOUR RULES VIOLATE TREATY.(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... By making French nationality a requirement for employment as a master (captain) or officer (chief mate) on all vessels flying the French flag, the French labour code for the maritime sector is in breach of Community law, specifically Article 39...

ECONOMIC DILEMMA.(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... The annual inflation rate in the eurozone hit a record level of 3.5% in March, the highest since the zone was created in 1999. This increase is driven by skyrocketing oil prices, even though the strong euro is helping to limit its impact,...

SOCIAL POLICY : ELDER ABUSE WIDESPREAD, SAYS EU SURVEY.(European Union)
April 9, 2008... As Europeans live longer, the share of the EU population aged over 80 is due to increase three or four-fold, to 12%, by 2050. More and more people will depend on the care of relatives or professional carers and be vulnerable to neglect or even...

SPORT : EMPHASIS ON SPORT'S SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ROLE.
April 9, 2008... Sport is important for society on the whole and it is important to develop a true dialogue between the competent bodies. This is the key message of a joint declaration, Social significance and dialogue in sport', which was adopted, on 17...

CONSULTATION OF WORKERS : EMPLOYERS READY TO NEGOTIATE EUROPEAN WORKS COUNCILS.
April 9, 2008... Employers are ready to begin negotiations with workers' representatives on the revision of the European Works Council Directive. A similar viewpoint was adopted on 2 April, in a joint letter addressed to Vladimir Spidla, the European...

EU EMPLOYMENT RATE UP.(European Union)(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... The seasonally adjusted number of people employed in the eurozone rose by 0.2% (270,000 people) during the fourth quarter of 2007, according to provisional national accounts estimates published by Eurostat, on 17 March. During the same period,...

EMPLOYMENT : EU EXECUTIVE TURNS ATTENTION TO POSTED WORKERS.
April 9, 2008... Better cooperation and mutual information-sharing between national administrations is needed to improve the situation of posted workers - temporarily posted by their employers to another member state. In a recommendation on this subject,...

INFLATION : EU RATE HIGH BUT STABLE.(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... Inflation in Europe remains high. In the eurozone, annual inflation was 3.3% in February 2008, up from 3.2% in January. A year earlier, the rate was 1.8%, said Eurostat on 14 March. In the EU27, annual inflation was 3.4% in February 2008,...

INTERVIEW WITH MORTEN KJAERUM, DIRECTOR OF THE EU AGENCY FOR FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS : EUROPE NEEDS TO FOCUS ON FIGHTING RACISM.(Interview)
April 9, 2008... Racism, privacy rights and discrimination of all forms will be the key issues for the new EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), says Morten Kjaerum. The Danish human rights expert with 23 years of experience in this field was appointed the...

COMPETITIVENESS : EUROPE'S ECONOMY 22 YEARS BEHIND US, STUDY SAYS.(Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry)
April 9, 2008... Europe has failed to make sufficient progress to improve its economic performance, and is decades behind the United States in all of the crucial indicators. And while the European Union is still ahead of China, the rising Asian powerhouse is...

FAVOURABLE WIND.(European Works Councils negotiations)(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... The hesitant reopening of social dialogue with the start of negotiations on European Works Councils is to be welcomed. Undeniably, there is a new desire among some European players to reopen the scope of social discussion, which has been lying...

FINAL WARNINGS ON 112.(European emergency number)(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... The European Commission gave Bulgaria and Romania a final warning (reasoned opinion) on 3 April, threatening to refer their case to the EU Court of Justice if they do not ensure the availability of the European emergency number, 112. The EU's...

FOOTBALL: SOCIAL DIALOGUE POSTPONED.(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... The launch of the Social Dialogue Committee in professional football, initially set for 17 March, is being postponed by two months, the European Commission has announced. The social partners appear unable to agree on the role the Union of...

FOUR MEMBER STATES REFERRED TO ECJ.(Greece, Italy, Luxembourg and Portugal on European Union Court of Justice)(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... Greece, Italy, Luxembourg and Portugal will have to explain to the EU Court of Justice why they have not notified national measures transposing Directive 2006/22/EC, which steps up the number of checks to be carried out by member states on...

GENDER EQUALITY : GENDER GAP STILL WIDE IN UNIONS.(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has carried out a courageous self-critique in connection with International Women's Day, on 8 March: it surveyed women's presence in leadership positions in unions. The results show that women are...

GLOBALISATION FUND ASSISTANCE.
April 9, 2008... The European Parliament's Committee on Budgets has approved the release of appropriations under the Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Portugal and Malta, on the basis of reports by Reimer Boge (EPP-ED, DE) and Kyosti Virrankoski (ALDE, FI)....

EMPLOYMENT : GROWTH DUE LARGELY TO ATYPICAL JOBS, ACCORDING TO STUDY.
April 9, 2008... The annual evaluation of the Lisbon strategy, just published by the Trade Union Institute (ETUI) of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), is interesting for a number of reasons. It presents a goldmine of figures and statistics for...

EDUCATION : HIGHER EDUCATION AN URGENT PRIORITY, SAYS THINK TANK REPORT.(Bruegel)
April 9, 2008... The success of the new three-year cycle of the Lisbon strategy (2008-2010), due to be approved by the European Council on 14 March, will depend in part on the member states' efforts to stimulate higher education. The Bruegel think tank has...

HOLLAND TO FACILITATE EMPLOYMENT OF SENIOR CITIZENS.(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... The Dutch government intends to facilitate the employment of senior citizens, in line with the EU's employment recommendations. The country's Social Affairs Minister, Piet Hein Donner, is due to present to the second chamber of parliament a...

STRUCTURAL FUNDS : HOUSING' PROJECTS IN EU15 TO BE INCLUDED IN REMIT OF ERDF.(European Regional Development Fund)(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... As announced at the beginning of February, the European Commission intends to adapt legislation on the Community's Structural Funds to allow the financing of housing-related energy investments in the EU15. Danuta Hubner, the commissioner for...

CONSUMER PRICES : INFLATION: EUROGROUP INSISTS ON WAGE MODERATION.
April 9, 2008... In unison, the Eurogroup ministers, the ECB president and Monetary Affaris Commissioner Joaquin Almunia voiced new concerns, on 4 April, over inflation in the eurozone following Eurostat's publication last week of its interim estimate (3.5% in...

INFRINGEMENT PROCEEDINGS AGAINST LUXEMBOURG.(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... Luxembourg was convicted by the EU Court of Justice, on 6 March, for failure to transpose Directive 2002/73/EC on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women as regards access to employment. The deadline for...

LABOUR COSTS UP.(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... Total hourly labour costs in the EU rose by 3.5% in the fourth quarter of 2007, compared with 3.7% for the previous quarter, according to Eurostat data released on 14 March. Wages and salaries rose by 3.7% and the non-wage component by 2.9%....

BORDER MANAGEMENT REFORM : MEMBER STATES CAUTIOUS ABOUT NEW REGIME.
April 9, 2008... The European Commission's far-reaching plans to beef up the protection of the Union's external borders have opened up deep divisions among EU member states. The split was exposed at a ministerial conference on external border management, held...

WOMEN'S RIGHTS : MEPS HIGHLIGHT PLIGHT OF IMPRISONED WOMEN.(Members of the European Parliament)
April 9, 2008... MEPs are drawing attention to the specific needs of imprisoned women, which are not taken into account sufficiently. In a report adopted in the European Parliament's plenary session, on 13 March, by a large majority (492 votes in favour, 24...

GLOBALISATION FUND : MEPS SCRUTINISE PORTUGUESE AND MALTESE APPLICATIONS.
April 9, 2008... In a joint meeting in Strasbourg on 10 March, the European Parliament's Committees on Budgets and Employment debated the mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) for two cases put forward by Malta (textile) and Portugal...

PUBLIC FINANCES : MINISTERS ASSESS EFFECTIVENESS OF SOCIAL SPENDING.
April 9, 2008... Measuring the effectiveness and rationality of social spending is still raising questions. On the basis of a thick working document concocted by the European Commission, Ecofin ministers debate dthe subject, on 5 April, in the framework of the...

MINISTERS CONDEMN ANTI-KORAN MOVIE.(Fitna')(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... In a gesture of support for the Dutch government, the EU's foreign ministers condemned the opinions on the Koran presented by a member of the Dutch parliament, Geert Wilders, in his 15-minute film entitled Fitna'. "The film equates Islam with...

JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS : MORTEN KJAERUM ELECTED TO TOP POST IN RIGHTS AGENCY.(European Union Fundamental Rights Agency)
April 9, 2008... Over a year after it became operational, the EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) finally gets its first proper boss. In a secret vote that stretched over two days, the agency's Management Board in Vienna elected Morten Kjaerum from Denmark to...

NEGOTIATIONS ON EUROPEAN WORKS COUNCILS.(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... The European Commission welcomed, on 4 April, the fact that the social partners have agreed to start negotiations on amendments to the Directive on European Works Councils (94/45/EC). The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) as well as the...

JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS : NGOS CRITICISE UNION'S ASYLUM SYSTEM.(nongovernment organizations on European Union)(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... Just ahead of a meeting called to chart a future asylum policy for the European Union, refugee-assisting organisations have criticised the current asylum mechanism and called for a fairer and more efficient system. A new report on EU...

NGOS URGE COHERENT POLICY APPROACH.(nongovernment organizations)(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... In their annual joint message to the EU's spring summit in March, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) and the Platform of European Social NGOs (Social Platform) welcome the EU's proposed...

NOT JUST MEN'S BUSINESS.(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... Liberal (ALDE) members of the European Parliament went on the offensive, on 11 March in Strasbourg, insisting that at least one of the top four EU posts established by the Treaty of Lisbon from 2009 should be held by a woman. The four are the...

GENDER EQUALITY : PARLIAMENT AIMS TO IMPROVE STATUS OF ASSISTING SPOUSES.
April 9, 2008... Reforming the directive on assisting spouses before the end of 2008 and including the gender dimension in European rural development programmes are the two main challenges identified by an own-initiative report adopted by the European...

HEALTH : PARLIAMENT DEMANDS EUROPEAN CARD FOR ORGAN DONORS.(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... The European Parliament's Health Committee recommends several solutions, including the creation of a European donors card to complement national systems, to remedy the serious shortage of organ donors in the EU as well as the risks linked to...

LISBON STRATEGY : PES CRITICISES, EPP SUPPORTS LISBON STRATEGY.(European People's Party)(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... The European Parliament's debate, on 12 March in Strasbourg, on the preparations for the spring European Council put the accent on the results of the Lisbon strategy, but was also a veiled political assessment of Jose Manuel Barroso's...

ASSISTED LIVING : PROGRAMME TO ASSIST SENIORS WITH ICT GETS EP GO-AHEAD.(information and communication technologies)(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... The European Parliament kicked off the European research programme on ambient assisted living' (AAL), with its adoption by a wide majority, on 13 March, of the report by Neena Gill (PES, UK). The total budget for the programme, which aims...

TAXATION : REDUCED VAT RATES: LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL DUE IN SUMMER.
April 9, 2008... The great reform of VAT rates will not be happening any time soon. In the absence of clear support from the Council on 5 December 2007, the European Commission decided to go halfway. It will present, "probably during the summer," a first...

RESEARCH : RESEARCH ON WEALTH AND HAPPINESS WINS EU AWARD.(European Union)(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... The Italian researcher, Luisa Corrado, who proved that people in wealthy countries are indeed happier than those in the less well-to-do parts of the world, has won one of the top European science awards. At a ceremony, on 12 March, Corrado...

EUROPEAN COUNCIL : ROAD MAP FOR A REVISED SOCIAL AGENDA.
April 9, 2008... The European Council, on 13 and 14 March in Brussels, endorsed the key messages submitted to it by the Councils of employment, education and competitiveness ministers, as well as the new guidelines for employment in 2008-2010. The main...

POSTED WORKERS : RULING ON COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT SPARKS DEBATE.
April 9, 2008... The EU Court of Justice has ruled that the Polish company which had paid workers posted in Germany less than the minimum salary set out in a (German) collective agreement had the right to do so. This decision was immediately criticised by...

JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS : SCHENGEN ENLARGEMENT REACHES FINAL STAGE.
April 9, 2008... Starting this weekend, Europeans will be truly able to travel from, for example Portugal to Poland, without border checks. That is because, on 30 March, passport controls will be lifted at airports in the nine countries that joined the Schengen...

ECONOMIC SITUATION : SENTIMENT INDICATOR REBOUNDS IN EU.(European Union)(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... In March, the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) rose by 1.7 points in the EU and decreased by 0.6 points in the eurozone (to 102 and 99.6, respectively), indicates the European Commission's latest monthly report on the results of its Business...

SOCIAL COHESION : SOCIAL BRIDGES' PAPER HIGHLIGHTS IMPORTANCE OF HUMAN CAPITAL.(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... On the basis of a paper written jointly by the Finance Ministries of Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom, the EU's ministers of finance held a debate, over dinner on 13 March, on the importance of "human capital for promoting employability...

SOCIAL COHESION : SOCIAL NGOS OUTRAGED AT EU SUMMIT CONCLUSIONS.(nongovernmental organizations on European Union)(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... The Social Platform is outraged at the European Council's conclusions, which it believes show a lack of social and human commitment to the destiny of European citizens. "Since 2005, when the Barroso Commission redubbed the long-term strategy...

CLIMATE CHANGE : SOCIAL PARTNERS CALL FOR STRATEGIC APPROACH.(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... The European social partners, represented by CEEP, the European Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation and of Enterprises of General Economic Interest, and ETUC, the European Trade Union Confederation, support the climate change and...

INTERVIEW WITH JOHN MONKS, GENERAL SECRETARY, EUROPEAN TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION (ETUC) : THE ETUC GETS A GOOD HEARING.(Interview)
April 9, 2008... Do you consider that the European Parliament's nature has changed profoundly and politically? The European Parliament has certainly grown in stature and influence. This was shown most clearly in the deal brokered on the Services Directive...

JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS : THREE STATES ACCEPT THE ECJ'S COMPETENCE ON PRELIMINARY RULINGS.(European Union Court of Justice on Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia)
April 9, 2008... Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia accepted, in a declaration published in the Official Journal, the competence of the EU Court of Justice to give preliminary rulings on questions submitted by their national jurisdictions - whatever their level...

HEALTH : UNION TACKLES 90,000 CASES OF TB A YEAR.(tuberculosis)(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... Nearly 90,000 cases of tuberculosis were reported in the EU in 2006, although this contagious disease, which usually attacks the lungs, has been treatable since the 1950s. The figure was announced by EuroTB, an EU-funded body that provides...

WARNING OVER ALITALIA.(Brief article)
April 9, 2008... The European Commission has warned that any aid from the Italian state to the almost-bankrupt airline Alitalia will have be align to market conditions, calling on Rome to discuss any planned measures beforehand with its services. According...