European Social Policy articles from January 2008

European Social Policy archives from January 2008

HEALTH : * - FOCUS ON BATTLE AGAINST CANCER.(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... Slovenia will make tackling cancer a high priority over the next six months. Last year, Germany drew its partners' attention to the battle against AIDS, and more specifically to the need to reduce the cost of antiretroviral medicine. Portugal...

SOCIAL POLICY : 2010 DESIGNATED YEAR OF COMBATING POVERTY AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION.
January 14, 2008... On 12 December, the European Commission designated 2010 the Year of Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion. The initiative, budgeted with 17 million, will "reaffirm the EU's commitment to making a decisive impact on the eradication of poverty...

ALGERIA-EU SOCIAL AFFAIRS.(European Union)(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... In the framework of establishing a free trade area between the European Union and Algeria (by 31 August 2017 at the latest), a work group on social affairs has been put in place charged with examining the implementation of the agreement and...

PURCHASING POWER : BIG DIFFERENCES IN GDP PER INHABITANT IN MEMBER STATES.(gross domestic product)(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... GDP per inhabitant in Luxembourg, expressed in terms of purchasing power standards (PPS(1) Cyprus and Slovenia were about 10% below the EU average, while the Czech Republic, Malta and Portugal were between 20% and 25% below. Estonia,...

CHRISTOFFER TAXELL/ESF.(European Services Forum)(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... The European Services Forum (ESF) has appointed Christoffer Taxell, chairman of Finnair, as new ESF chairman. Taxell's distinguished career has included senior positions in politics, business and academia. He was until 2006 chairman of the ESF...

ROAD TRANSPORT : CLARIFICATIONS ON DRIVING TIMES AND REST PERIODS.(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... Regulation 561/2006 on driving times and rest periods for drivers of road haulage and passenger transport vehicles comprises a number of provisions whose interpretation can be confusing, which is at the very least impeding when drivers are...

UNION RIGHTS : COLLECTIVE ACTION, A FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT THAT HAS LIMITS.
January 14, 2008... The EU Court of Justice handed down its second ruling, on 18 December, on unions' right to organise collective action in relation to freedom of establishment (judgement of 18 December 2007, Laval un Partneri v. Svenska...

MEDICINES : COMMISSION SEEKING TO HARMONISE PATIENT INFORMATION.
January 14, 2008... The European Commission intends to harmonise national rules governing the provision of information to patients on medicinal products, in strict respect of the EU-wide ban on advertising for prescription drugs. Its report on existing...

CONCERNS OVER SCHENGEN ENLARGEMENT.(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... A warning has been issued by the Executive Director of Frontex, Ilkka Laitinen, that the expansion of the Schengen area on 21 December brings with it heightened security concerns. In an interview with a press agency dated 19 December, the chief...

WORKING CONDITIONS : COURT PROVIDES FRAMEWORK FOR TRADE UNION ACTION.
January 14, 2008... The judgement handed down by the EU Court of Justice on 11 December is the first in a series of rulings on trade union action. The verdict in the next case (Vaxholm vs Laval un partneri, Sweden, 18 December) should therefore be awaited before...

FREEDOM OF THE PRESS : COURT RULING HAS IMPLICATIONS FOR JOURNALISTS' RIGHTS.
January 14, 2008... The ruling by the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in the case of Tillack versus Belgium deserves close attention because it explicitly targets the EU institutions, unlike what the European Commission and the European...

EMPLOYMENT : DEBATE OVER MINIMUM WAGE RAGES IN GERMANY.
January 14, 2008... Germany is one of the last European countries not to have established a general minimum wage, and there is currently high controversy in the country following the conclusion of an agreement in the postal sector. Some of the competitors of the...

EIB LOAN TO WALLONIA.(European Investment Bank)(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... The European Investment Bank signed, on 21 December, a finance contract for the second 100 million sum of an EIB loan for upgrading Wallonia's public sector housing stock to the latest standards of safety, comfort and equipment. A first sum of...

ESF FUNDING IN AUSTRIA.(European Social Fund)(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... The European Commission announced on 19 December that it had approved two Austrian programmes under the 2007-2013 Cohesion Policy. These two programmes will be co-financed by the European Social Fund, with a total of 524 million. They aim to...

EU-CHINA SOCIAL COOPERATION.(European Union)(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... A protocol agreement was scheduled to be signed in China on 12 January by European Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs Vladimir pidla to launch a structured dialogue with the Chinese Academy of Social Science, which gathers the most...

EMPLOYMENT : EU EMPLOYMENT UP BY 0.3% IN Q3.(European Union)(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... The seasonally adjusted number of persons employed in the eurozone rose by 0.3% (407,000 persons) during the third quarter of 2007, according to provisional national accounts estimates published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the...

UNEMPLOYMENT : EU JOBLESS RATE STABLE AT 6.9%.(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... The eurozone's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 7.2% in November 2007, unchanged compared with October (7.9% in November 2006). In the EU, the unemployment rate was 6.9% in November 2007, the same as in October. It was 7.7% in...

EUROPEAN SOCIAL FUND IN ITALY.(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... The 24 Italian programmes to be co-financed by the European Social Fund (ESF) during the 2007-2013 period have been approved, announced the European Commission on 19 December. These programmes will benefit, in total, from Community co-financing...

EUROPEAN SOCIAL FUNDS IN BELGIUM.(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... The European Commission announced, on 19 December, that it had adopted the programmes which Belgium would benefit from under the European Social Funds in 2007-2013. These programmes have been provided with Community co-funding of a little more...

EUROPEAN SOCIAL FUNDS IN SPAIN.(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... The 22 Spanish programmes that the European Social Fund will finance during the 2007-2013 period have been approved, announced the European Commission on 19 December. The 8 billion given to them by the EU will be used to co-finance projects...

CHARTER OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS : FROM 2009, RESPECT FOR FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS WILL BE COMPULSORY.
January 14, 2008... The presidents of the three EU institutions tried, as solomely as possible, to proclaim the Charter of Fundamental Rights on 12 December at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Despite the boos of several far-right MEPs and nationalists,...

GLOBALISATION ADJUSTMENT FUND : FUND TO HELP 675 WORKERS IN MALTA.(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... The European Commission has approved an application from Malta for assistance under the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF). The funding will help 675 redundant workers in the textiles sector back into employment.aThe application will...

GLOBALISATION FUND PAYMENTS.(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... The European Commission has paid Germany and Finland a total of 12.8 million from the Globalisation Adjustment Fund. The funds will be used to assist the 3,300 workers made redundant by BenQ, a mobile phone manufacturer in Germany, and the...

SOCIAL SECURITY : GRANTING OF BENEFITS FOR WORKERS FROM ASSOCIATED COUNTRIES.(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... The European Commission adopted a set of provisions setting the application arrangements for social security provisions for natives of several countries with which the European Union has signed association agreements (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia,...

JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS : GROUNDWORK IS LAID FOR FUTURE SUCCESSES.
January 14, 2008... A first glance at the priorities facing the Slovenian EU Presidency on Justice and Home Affairs reveals that, on paper at least, they should be able to notch up significant achievements. A lot of the ground has been well prepared. On the...

INTEGRATION : INTERCULTURAL ACTIVITIES TO FOCUS ON THE BALKANS.(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... The EU's Year of Intercultural Dialogue is expected to be used by the Slovenian Presidency as an opportunity to promote relations with the Western Balkans countries. One of the main events hosted by the Presidency will be a meeting to...

EUROPEAN COUNCIL : IT'S TIME FOR THE EU TO GET TO WORK.
January 14, 2008... Now that the Treaty of Lisbon is on track, it is time for Europe to roll up its sleeves and get to work meeting the challenges of globalisation. Even if the message - aimed primarily at a domestic audience - reiterated on 14 December by Gordon...

CROSS-BORDER HEALTH CARE : KYPRIANOU PROPOSAL: MEMBER STATES UNENTHUSIASTIC.(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... Although most member states recognise the importance of having a Community legal framework governing patients' rights for cross-border care' to codify case law from the European Court of Justice (France and Estonia are more hesitant), none are...

RESEARCH : LEADERS RECOGNISE NEED FOR MORE HUMAN RESOURCES FOR R&D.(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... EU leaders emphasised the need to act to increase the number of people working in science and technology in Europe, in conclusions agreed at the December European Council. The conclusions note, in particular, the need to make Europe more...

UNDECLARED WORK : LEADERS RECOGNISE NEED FOR SANCTIONS ON BLACK MARKET EMPLOYERS.
January 14, 2008... Work should press ahead on the establishment of EU rules on the minimum criminal sanctions that should be handed out to employers of illegal immigrants, according to EU heads of state and government, despite known reservations in Council...

STATE AID SCORECARD : LESS AID TO MANUFACTURING AND COAL SINCE 2001.
January 14, 2008... Member states reduced their aid to the manufacturing, coal and services sectors between 2001 and 2006 and focused on objectives related to the environment and energy saving (+11.6 percentage points). On the other hand, the increase in support...

STRUCTURAL FUNDS : LISBON IS NOT A CURE-ALL, SAYS ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE.
January 14, 2008... Not everybody is getting behind the European Commission's opinion that it would be appropriate to reinforce the priorities linked to the Lisbon Strategy in the EU's Cohesion Policy. The Economic and Social Committee (ESC) adopted an opinion on...

JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS : MEPS BACK PROPOSALS TO EASE RECOVERY OF MAINTENANCE PAYMENTS.(members of European Parliament)
January 14, 2008... Proposals aimed at making it easier for people to make cross-border claims for maintenance payments, such as child support money, have been given strong support by MEPs, during a vote in plenary session on 13 December. The legislative...

HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK : MEPS CALL FOR ALL-EMBRACING POLICY.(members of European Parliament)
January 14, 2008... In an own-initiative report adopted on 18 December (38 votes in favour and two against), the European Parliament's Employment Committee approved the European Health and Security Strategy presented by the European Commission for the 2007-2012...

IMMIGRATION : NGOS ADD THEIR VOICE TO EURODAC CONCERNS.(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... Further concerns have been raised that plans to give national law enforcement authorities access to the EURODAC database may breach fundamental rights. The concerns are set out in a memorandum sent from the European Council on Refugees and...

CROSS-BORDER HEALTH CARE : PROPOSAL TAKEN OFF AGENDA UNTIL JANUARY.(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... The draft directive on patients' rights in cross-border health care, which was on the European Commission's agenda for 19 December, has been postponed to a later date, at some point in January. According to the Commission spokesman, the...

STRUCTURAL FUNDS : "REORIENTATION" IN SUPPORT OF LISBON PRIORITIES.
January 14, 2008... The greater part of the Cohesion Policy budget of 347 billion will be invested in key Lisbon Strategy priorities, such as the knowledge economy, research and development and innovation, announces a communication presented by the European...

ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION : RETURN DIRECTIVE NEGOTIATIONS MAY CONTINUE INTO THE SPRING.
January 14, 2008... Voting by the European Parliament on the so-called Return Directive will be delayed until 20-22 May, if necessary, in order to allow time for MEPs to secure a first-reading agreement with Council. The delay was confirmed by Parliament's...

SOCIAL POLICY : SLOVENIAN PRESIDENCY LOW IN SOCIAL PRIORITIES.
January 14, 2008... Upon reading the agenda of the Slovenian EU Presidency for the first half of 2008, one can clearly see that social policy is not at all a priority for this rather affluent republic of two million inhabitants, nestled between Austria and...

CROSS-BORDER HEALTH CARE : SOCIAL PARTNERS AND NGO DISAGREE WITH COMMISSION'S PROPOSAL.(non-governmental organization)
January 14, 2008... In a joint statement, the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) and the European Hospital and Healthcare Employers' Association (HOSPEEM) have criticised the European Commission's proposal on cross-border health care. "We call for...

SOCIAL POLICY : SOCIAL PARTNERS DEFEND THEIR VIEWS IN LJUBLJANA.
January 14, 2008... The European single market must respect the rights of workers and unions: that was the message delivered by John Monks, general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), to Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jan a, in Ljubljana on...

SOCIAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTIONS IN SWEDEN.(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... The European Commission decided on 11 December not to raise objections to an aid scheme for the reduction of social security contributions for small and medium-sized enterprises in certain services sectors in Sweden. The measure aims to...

INTERVIEW WITH DRAGUTIN MATE, SLOVENIAN MINISTER OF INTERIOR : "SOME COUNTRIES HAVE SERIOUS DOUBTS ABOUT THE BLUE CARD".(Interview)
January 14, 2008... Dragutin Mate is minister of interior of the Republic of Slovenia. At the start of the Slovenian EU Presidency, Europolitics Social sought to find out more about his ambitions and intentions concerning some of the key dossiers currently on the...

STRUCTURAL FUNDS IN IRELAND.(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Hubner and the Irish Minister for European Affairs, Dick Roche, signed, on 14 December in Brussels, two operational programmes which will be co-funded by the European Structural Fund during the 2007-2013...

STRUCTURAL FUNDS IN POLAND.(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... On 7 December, the European Commission approved the operational programme provided with the biggest ever European funds in the framework of the Cohesion Policy 2007-2013. It is a Polish project for the environment and infrastructures, provided...

WORKING CONDITIONS : SUMMIT TO APPROVE COMMON PRINCIPLES OF FLEXICURITY.(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... The European Council has endorsed, on 14 December in Brussels, the agreement reached during the Council of Employment Ministers of 5 December on the common principles of flexicurity. It has also invited "member states to take them duly into...

UNION RIGHTS : UNIONS "DISAPPOINTED" WITH ECJ RULING, COMMISSION SATISFIED.(European Court of Justice)(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... In the wake of the EU Court of Justice decisions in the Viking (Finland) and Laval (Sweden) cases, which raised the issue of alleged wage-dumping by an Estonian firm and a Latvian company, respectively, the European Commission has welcomed the...

CROSS-BORDER HEALTH CARE : WALLSTROM RAISES OBJECTIONS TO KYPRIANOU'S DIRECTIVE.(European Commission President Margot Wallstrom; health commissioner Markos Kyprianou)
January 14, 2008... The proposal for a directive establishing a Community framework for the application of patients' rights in cross-border health care, which the Commission was due to present on 19 December, caused debates which were just as lively within the...

INTEGRATION : WHAT PRICE FOR INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE?(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... Over a third of the EU budget contribution to the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue will be directed towards media/communication activities and public opinion surveys, rather than to the funding of projects, according to figures obtained...