European Social Policy articles from April 2009

European Social Policy archives from April 2009

HOME AFFAIRS : EP: ROMA SHOULD HAVE BETTER ACCESS TO LABOUR MARKET.(Brief article)
April 6, 2009... The European Parliament adopted in plenary, on 11 March, a report by Magda Kosane Kovacs (PES, Hungary) on the social situation of the Roma and improvement of their access to the labour market in the EU. The question of discrimination against...

IMMIGRATION : ASYLUM: EP URGES MEMBER STATES TO CEASE DETENTIONS.
April 6, 2009... With the number of refugees worldwide exceeding 12 million, the European Parliament, like the Commission, is awaiting a "common" and "protective" EU asylum system. In a non-binding own-initiative report by Italian Communist Giusto Catania,...

SME SURVEY : BUSINESS CONFIDENCE PLUMMETS, SERVICES SEE LIGHT AT TUNNEL'S END.(small and medium-sized enterprises)(Brief article)
April 6, 2009... The confidence of European small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has fallen sharply to record low levels in the last six month, according to a new EU-wide survey conducted by UEAPME, theaEuropean Association of Craft, Small and Medium-sized...

CROSS-BORDER HEALTH CARE : CONSERVATIVES WELCOME EP COMMITTEE VOTE.(European Parliament)(Brief article)
April 6, 2009... While the amendments proposed by the Socialist group to the proposal for a directive on the application of patients' rights in cross-border health care were rejected by the European Parliament's Committee on Internal Market (IMCO), on 9 March,...

HEALTH CLINICS : ECJ: AUSTRIAN LEGISLATION INCOMPATIBLE WITH COMMUNITY LAW.(European Union Court of Justice)(Brief article)
April 6, 2009... The Austrian legislation on setting up private health institutions is restricting the freedom of establishment and is thus incompatible with Community law, says a judgement of the EU Court of Justice, announced on 10 March (Case C169/07)....

EMPLOYMENT DOWN IN Q4 2008.(Brief article)
April 6, 2009... The number of persons employed in the EU fell by 0.3% (672,000 persons) in the fourth quarter of 2008, compared with the previous quarter, according to estimates published by Eurostat, on 16 March. Compared with the same quarter of the previous...

EQUAL TREATMENT : EP COMMITTEE APPROVES ANTI-DISCRIMINATION DIRECTIVE.(European Parliament)
April 6, 2009... Although the European Parliament's Civil Rights Committee voted, on 16 March, in favour of a consultation report by Kathalijne Buitenweg (Greens-EFA, Netherlands) on the European Commission's July 2008 proposal for a new equal treatment...

ETUC MOBILISES AGAINST IMPACT OF CRISIS.(European Trade Union Confederation)(Brief article)
April 6, 2009... The General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), John Monks, has urged the EU to provide "more coordination and measures for the short and long term" to cope with the crisis. Speaking in Brussels, on 10 March, at a...

UNEMPLOYMENT : EU JOBLESS RATE HITS 7.9%.(Brief article)
April 6, 2009... The eurozone's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 8.5% in February 2009, compared with 8.3% in January 2009 and 7.2% in February 2008. The EU unemployment rate was 7.9% in February 2009, compared with 7.7% in January 2008 and 6.8% in...

EUROPEAN BORDER BREAKERS AWARDS.(EuroSonic Noorderslag)(Brief article)
April 6, 2009... The European Commission has chosen EuroSonic Noorderslag (a foundation organising a popular music festival in the Netherlands) to be in charge of the seventh edition of the European Border Breakers Awards (EBBA). Through these awards, the...

JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS : EU TO CRACK DOWN ON CHILD ABUSE.(European Union)
April 6, 2009... The European Commission wants to make it much easier to prosecute child abusers both within and outside the European Union. According to a proposal, presented on 25 March, it should become possible in all the member states to bring child...

GERMANY KEEPS RESTRICTIONS FOR EU8 WORKERS.(European Union)(Brief article)
April 6, 2009... Germany confirmed, on 30 March, its intention to send a request to the European Commission to extend transitional arrangements for workers from the EU8 (the ten member states that joined in 2004 minus Cyprus and Malta). For these countries, the...

EMPLOYMENT COUNCIL : GLOBALISATION FUND REVISION SPARKS LIVELY DEBATE.(European Globalisation Adjustment Fund)
April 6, 2009... The EU member states still have a lot of work to do to find common ground on the revision of the regulation on theaEuropean Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF). The employment ministers' debate, on 9 March, has revealed that an agreement is not...

WORKING TIME DIRECTIVE : IT IS TIME FOR CONCILIATION.(Brief article)
April 6, 2009... The EU's Employment Council officially decided, on 9 March, not to approve all of the European Parliament's amendments on the revision of the Working Time Directive. This meant that the conciliation procedure can start. The Conciliation...

JOBS AND RECOVERY MEASURES.(Brief article)
April 6, 2009... The downgrading of the jobs summit is a "bad signal to European citizens," according to John Monks, general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). In a press release, he regrets "the decision of the EU authorities to...

WAGES AND SALARIES : LABOUR COSTS UP BY 4.6% IN EU.(European Union)(Brief article)
April 6, 2009... Total hourly labour costs in the eurozone rose by 3.8% in nominal terms in the year up to the fourth quarter of 2008, compared with 4.2% for the previous quarter. In the EU, the annual rise was 4.6% to the fourth quarter of 2008, compared with...

G8 SOCIAL SUMMIT : LABOUR MINISTERS PONDER GLOBAL EMPLOYMENT MEASURES.(Brief article)
April 6, 2009... The social dimension' of the crisis was the main subject for discussion at a meeting of the European Commission and the G8 labour and social affairs ministers (the United States, Canada, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and...

EMPLOYMENT : LISBON TARGETS RIPE FOR RENEWAL.(Brief article)
April 6, 2009... The European Commission is preparing an announcement' concerning the revision of the Lisbon targets before the June European Council, an official of the EU executive said, on 26 March. He was commenting on the findings of a research study,...

EMPLOYMENT COUNCIL : MEASURES SHOULD BE TIMELY, TARGETED AND TEMPORARY, SAY MINISTERS.
April 6, 2009... Timely, targeted and temporary measures are needed to stimulate employment, prevent and limit job losses and manage the associated social impacts. These form part of the key messages adopted by the EU's employment ministers, on 9 March, to be...

ECONOMIC CRISIS : MEMBER STATES FEAR JOB SUMMIT COULD BE "COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE".
April 6, 2009... The venue and list of participants of the EU's informal crisis job summit', scheduled for 7 May, is still subject to ongoing discussions. The final decision now rests with Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, the acting president of the...

EQUAL TREATMENT : MEPS WANT BAN ON DISCRIMINATION.(members of the European Parliament)
April 6, 2009... The EU should opt for a ban on all discrimination against people on the basis of age, disability, sexual orientation, belief or religion in the area of education, social security, health care and goods and services (including housing). The...

SOCIAL SECURITY : MEPS WANT COMPULSORY COVERAGE FOR ASSISTING SPOUSES.(members of European Parliament)
April 6, 2009... Contrary to the European Commission's proposal, the European Parliament's Committee on Women's Rights wants to make it compulsory for assisting spousesato have social security coverage (for sickness, invalidity and pension). The Commission has...

RENEWED SOCIAL AGENDA : MEPS WARN AGAINST REDUCING SOCIAL EXPENDITURE.(members of European Parliament)(Brief article)
April 6, 2009... The European Commission should develop an ambitious social policy agenda in the context of the current economic recession, argues the European Parliament's Committee on Employment and Social Affairs in its response to the renewed social agenda...

CROSS-BORDER HEALTH CARE : MEP VERGNAUD CALLS UPON LEFT TO RALLY TOGETHER.(member of European Parliament Bernadette Vergnaud)(Brief article)
April 6, 2009... The European Parliament's Committee on Internal Market rejected, on 9 March, the Socialist group's amendments to the proposal for a directive on the application of patients' rights in cross-border health care. "During the vote, the alliance...

INFORMAL EDUCATION COUNCIL : MINISTERS TO EXPLORE EDUCATION-BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP.(Brief article)
April 6, 2009... The way cooperation between the education and the business sector can help member states overcome the current economic crisis will be the main issue to be discussed by the EU's education ministers during their informal Council meeting, on 22-23...

INTERVIEW WITH JACQUES BARROT, COMMISSIONER FOR JUSTICE, FREEDOM AND SECURITY : MISTAKES OF GUANTANAMO SHOULD NOT BE REPEATED ELSEWHERE.(Interview)
April 6, 2009... Jacques Barrot visited Lampedusa (off southern Italy), on 13 March, and Malta, on 14 March - Mediterranean islands of the EU where significant numbers of illegal immigrants and asylum seekers are disembarking. He then had to meet, on 16 and 17...

WORKING TIME DIRECTIVE : MOST MEMBER STATES STICK TO OPT-OUT.
April 6, 2009... The Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper I) agreed, on 11 March, a new compromise text on the revision of the Working Time Directive. The document, containing about 20 amendments to the Council's common position, was presented by the...

WORKING TIME DIRECTIVE : NO AGREEMENT BETWEEN EP AND COUNCIL.(European Parliament)
April 6, 2009... No breakthrough has been achieved on the revision of the Working Time Directive (2003/88/EC) at the first conciliation round, held on 17 March. The two parties, the European Parliament and the Council, now have six weeks to hammer out a deal....

EXTERNAL BORDERS : PARLIAMENT CONCERNED BY NUMBER OF PROJECTS.(Brief article)
April 6, 2009... Given the frenetic pace of proposals to do with managing the EU's external borders and immigration, the European Parliament, in an own-initiative report and a resolution adopted on 10 March, is asking the European Commission to consider "border...

ECONOMIC CRISIS : PARLIAMENT THROWS WEIGHT BEHIND EGF REVISION.
April 6, 2009... The European Parliament's Committee on Employment and Social Affairs gave its backing to the European Commission's proposal to extend the scope of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF), on 31 March. In order to "enable a quick...

TRIPARTITE SOCIAL SUMMIT : PARTICIPANTS PLEDGE TO KEEP EMPLOYMENT A PRIORITY.(Conference notes)
April 6, 2009... Identifying ways to counter rising unemployment in the EU was the focus of a tripartite social summit, held in the morning of 19 March in Brussels, just before the European Council. The meeting was attended by the European social partners...

CROSS-BORDER HEALTH CARE : POLITICAL GROUPS SPLIT ON PATIENTS' RIGHTS REPORT.
April 6, 2009... The European Parliament's Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety adopted, on 31 March, a first-reading report on patients' rights in cross-border health care by John Bowis (EPP-ED, United Kingdom). The vote was 31 in favour,...

EMPLOYMENT COUNCIL : PROPOSAL TO EXTEND MATERNITY LEAVE REMAINS IN LIMBO.
April 6, 2009... Paradoxical as it may seem, several EU member states (the Nordic countries and also Spain) believe that the eventual adoption of the European Commission's proposal to extend maternity leave from 14 to 18 weeks would increase gender inequality....

SOCIAL SECURITY : REVISION OF REGULATION NEARING COMPLETION.
April 6, 2009... An informal agreement between the Council and the European Parliament was reached during informal three-way talks between the three main EU institutions, on 16 March, on the revision of Regulation 883/2004 on the coordination of national social...

WORKING TIME DIRECTIVE : REVISION RUNNING INTO "CONSIDERABLE DIFFICULTIES".
April 6, 2009... After ten hours of conciliation talks during the night of 1-2 April, neither the European Parliament nor the Council have budged an inch from their initial positions on the revision of the Working Time Directive (2003/88/EC). Both sides blame...

IMMIGRATION AND ASYLUM : ROME ASSURES BARROT ON LAMPEDUSA DETENTION PROCEDURES.(Jacques Barrot)
April 6, 2009... As Jacques Barrot, the European commissioner in charge of immigration, visited, on 13 March, the island of Lampedusa (south of Italy), where more and more illegal immigrants are landing in search of a better life in Europe, Amnesty...

ECONOMIC CRISIS : SOCIAL PARTNERS DEMAND G20 ACTION.(Brief article)
April 6, 2009... On the eve of the G20 summit in London, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has called upon the European leaders to take decisive action in the field of fiscal and monetary policy. According to the ETUC, the "complacency" of European...

TRAINING : TOWARDS A UNION-WIDE MASTER'S IN TRANSLATION.(European Master's in Translation)(Brief article)
April 6, 2009... The creation of the European Master's in Translation (EMT) network was the central theme of an international conference sponsored by the European Commission, on 16 and 17 March. More than 100 universities and other stakeholders involved in...

ETUC : UNIONS WARN EU OF WORKERS' ANGER.(European Trade Union Confederation)
April 6, 2009... While the format as well as the final venue and the list of participants in what was originally planned as a crisis job summit' in Prague, on 7 May, are yet to be determined - sources say a decision is due by next week - the apparent...

VOTE POSTPONED ON CROSS-BORDER HEALTH CARE.(Brief article)
April 6, 2009... The scheduled 12 March meeting in Strasbourg of the European Parliament's Committee on Environment has been cancelled and consequently the vote on a report by British MEP John Bowis (EPP-ED) on cross-border health care has been postponed to 31...