European Social Policy articles from June 2009

European Social Policy archives from June 2009

EMPLOYMENT : CRISIS JOB SUMMIT TO SET PRIORITIES.(Brief article)
June 11, 2009... The crisis job summit' will identify general principles on how the European Union and its member states should handle the impacts of the crisis on the labour market. The meeting's draft conclusions say that "the Union and its member states...

EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS COUNCIL : PHARMA PACKAGE, MATERNITY LEAVE AND ESF ON AGENDA.
June 11, 2009... The EU's pharmaceutical package' and preparation for the 18-19 June European Council top the agenda of the Employment and Social Affairs Council, on 8 and 9 June in Luxembourg. The participants will also discuss the revision of the maternity...

COMPETITIVENESS COUNCIL : BUSINESSEUROPE WANTS ANTI-DISCRIMINATION DIRECTIVE WITHDRAWN.(Brief article)
June 11, 2009... The EU's biggest business lobby group, BusinessEurope, wants the anti-discrimination directive "withdrawn" and "ideas about introducing legislation on EU collective redress to be dropped". In a letter addressed to Czech Minister of Industry and...

CHARLEMAGNE YOUTH PRIZE 2009.
June 11, 2009... The President of the European Parliament, Conservative Hans-Gert Pottering (Germany), and the Chairman of the Charlemagne Prize Foundation, Michael Jansen, awarded the European Charlemagne Youth Prize 2009 to the Polish project YOUrope needs...

IMMIGRATION : COMMISSION AWAITS DETAILS ON ITALY'S RETURN OF MIGRANTS TO LIBYA.(Brief article)
June 11, 2009... For the time being, the European Commission has not released an official position on a recent case that represents a turning point in Italy's immigration policy.The case is the forced return of 227 illegal immigrants to Libya in agreement with...

IMMIGRATION : COMMISSION FEEDS INTO MIGRATION FLOW' DEBATE.
June 11, 2009... New actions must be taken by the EU and third countries to tackle migration flows. The European Commission held a policy debate, on 27 May, on the subject, which resulted in particular in a letter, addressed to the Czech EU Presidency, about...

JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS : COMMISSION OUTLINES MECHANISM FOR SHARING REFUGEES.
June 11, 2009... After a decade of justice, security and freedom policy, the European Commission will propose, on 10 June, to update the EU's priorities, which would include the creation of a Schengen visa, strengthening of the Frontex border control agency, a...

EMPLOYMENT : COMMISSION PROPOSES 19 BN EURO STRATEGY TO TACKLE JOB LOSSES.
June 11, 2009... The European Commission intends to change the rules for the use of the European Social Fund (ESF) for the years 2009-2010 in order to support "people who are hit by the crisis". According to the executive's 3 June statement, co-financing by EU...

EMPLOYMENT : COMMISSION PROPOSES END TO ESF CO-FINANCING.(European Social Fund)
June 11, 2009... A proposal to clear the way for EU member states to draw money from the European Social Fund (ESF) without the need to co-finance ESF projects wass presented by the European Commission, on 3 June. The measure would be valid for 2009-2010 and...

HEALTH COUNCIL : COMMISSION PROPOSES EU PRIORITY GROUPS FOR SWINE FLU VACCINATION.(Brief article)
June 11, 2009... Over lunch during the Health Council, on 9 June EU Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou called upon the member states to draft a comprehensive European strategy on coordinating the production and use of vaccines against the swine (Mexican)...

CROSS-BORDER HEALTH CARE : COR'S PES GROUP OPPOSED TO CURRENT DIRECTIVE.(Committee of the Regions)
June 11, 2009... The PES group in the Committee of the Regions (CoR) is not satisfied with the directive on the application of patients' rights in cross-border health care, adopted in first reading by the European Parliament's plenary, on 23 April. At a seminar...

INTEGRATION : COUNCIL REITERATES DETERMINATION TO ENHANCE INCLUSION OF ROMA.(Brief article)
June 11, 2009... With several far-right Central European parties known for their anti-Roma discourse making their entry into the European Parliament, the EU Council of Employment Ministers urged the Union, on 8 June in Luxembourg, to press on with its strategy...

STATE AID : CRITERIA FOR AID MEASURES FOR DISADVANTAGED AND DISABLED WORKERS.
June 11, 2009... Large amounts of training aid and aid for the hiring of disadvantaged and disabled workers granted by the member states must be notified and cleared by the European Commission based on a given set of criteria. In the context of the...

EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL POLICY COUNCIL : DEAL ON SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS REMAINS ELUSIVE.
June 11, 2009... The question whether non-EU nationals who reside legally in the Union should be entitled to the same social security benefits across national borders as nationals of the EU member states continues to divide the 27 member states. The expectation...

HEALTH CARE : DEBATE ON CROSS-BORDER CARE RUMBLES ON.
June 11, 2009... Although eight full days have been devoted during the past five months to debating the draft directive on patients' rights in cross-border health care(1), the compromise text, as proposed by the Czech EU Presidency, still needs to be "further...

IMMIGRATION : DEPORTATION OF IMMIGRANTS: COMMISSION URGED TO TAKE A STAND.
June 11, 2009... The main groups in the European Parliament, with the noteworthy exception of the EPP, expect precise answers to precise questions on Italy's recent controversial deportation of hundreds of illegal immigrants to Libya. The controversy is...

PHARMACIES : ECJ: MEMBER STATES CAN RESTRICT OWNERSHIP OF PHARMACIES.(EU Court of Justice)
June 11, 2009... According to a 19 May ruling by the EU Court of Justice (ECJ), the owning and running of pharmacies "can be restricted to pharmacists alone". Restrictions to this effect contained in Italian and German legislation are therefore justified...

EP POSTPONES VOTE ON MATERNITY LEAVE.(European Parliament)(Brief article)
June 11, 2009... The European Parliament decided, on 6 May, to postpone the vote on a report on the revision of Directive 92/85/EE, which aims to "improve the safety and health of pregnant workers or workers who have recently given birth or are breastfeeding"....

AGE DISCRIMINATION : EP SINGLES OUT COMMISSION.(European Parliament)(Brief article)
June 11, 2009... The European Parliament has asked the EU executive to change its current policy that bans the hiring of auxiliary conference interpreters (ACIs) over age 65. The own-initiative report on this subject by Miguel Angel Martinez (PES, Spain) was...

UNEMPLOYMENT : EU JOBLESS RATE CONTINUES TO CLIMB.(Brief article)
June 11, 2009... In the eurozone, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 9.2% in April 2009, compared with 8.9% in March (and 7.3% in April 2008). The EU unemployment rate was 8.6% in April 2009, compared with 8.4% in March (and 6.8% in April 2008)....

IMMIGRATION : EU REJECTED MOST ASYLUM REQUESTS IN 2008.
June 11, 2009... Europe, land of asylum? That is far from being the case, since most requests made in EU countries in 2008 were rejected, according to figures from Eurostat, the EU's statistical office, published on 8 May in Brussels. Last year, the EU recorded...

EU-RUSSIA DIALOGUE ON PUBLIC HEALTH.(Brief article)
June 11, 2009... On 28 May in Moscow, Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou and Russia's Minister of Health and Social Development Tatiana Golikova signed terms of reference for establishing a dialogue in public health. This dialogue goes beyond the current...

SOCIAL PROTECTION : EXPENDITURE REMAINS STABLE IN UNION.(Brief article)
June 11, 2009... In recent years, there has only been a slight variation in social protection expenditure in the EU. According to data published by Eurostat, on 2 June(1), social protection expenditure accounted for 26.9% of GDP in 2006, compared with 27.1% in...

HEALTH COUNCIL : INFORMATION TO PATIENTS: MEMBER STATES PULL DIFFERENT WAYS.(Brief article)
June 11, 2009... Over 20 member states believe that the European Commission's proposal to amend the Regulation EC 726/2004 on information to the general public on medicinal products for human use subject to medical prescription does not provide a solid basis...

R&D : INNOVATIVE MEDICINE INITIATIVE: FIRST PROJECTS SELECTED.(research and development)(Brief article)
June 11, 2009... Fifteen projects tackling the main causes of delays in research and development in the pharmaceuticals sector will receive 246 million in financing from the European Commission (which is contributing 110 million) and the European Federation of...

INTERVIEW WITH EMPLOYMENT COMMISSIONER VLADIMIR SPIDLA : INTEREST IN EGF PICKING UP.(European Globalisation Adjustment Fund)(Interview)
June 11, 2009... Employment and Social Affairs Commissioner Vladimir Spidla told Europolitics after the cris job summit, on 7 May in Prague, that the recently revised European Globalisation adjustment Fund (EGF) is gaining increasing popularity. The European...

POSTED WORKERS DIRECTIVE : JOINT ANALYSIS BY SOCIAL PARTNERS PROGRESSING AT SNAIL'S PACE.
June 11, 2009... The chances for an early revision of the Posted Workers Directive remain very slim as the social partners still seem unable to carry out a quick joint analysis of the text. To date, only one meeting took place - in late March this year -...

EU/US : MEMBER STATES AGREE DEAL ON ACCEPTING GUANTANAMO DETAINEES.
June 11, 2009... In an unprecedented move towards consolidating its new approach to cooperation with the United States in the area of freedom, security and justice, the EU's Justice and Home Affairs Council gave, on 4 June in Luxembourg, its agreement in...

EDUCATION AND YOUTH COUNCIL : MEMBER STATES EXAMINE FUTURE STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK.
June 11, 2009... The Education and Youth Council, held in Brussels on 11-12 May, looked to the future. The main items on the agenda was the outlook for the European cooperation framework in the area of youth and the new strategic framework for European...

EQUAL TREATMENT : MEMBER STATES GRAPPLING WITH ANTI-DISCRIMINATION DRAFT.
June 11, 2009... Unanimity among the member states - which is a requirement for the draft anti-discrimination directive to be approved - seems as remote as ever. This emerges from a progress report drafted by the Czech EU Presidency for submission to the...

MEXICAN FLU : MEPS SLAM COUNCIL'S LAID-BACK ATTITUDE.(Members of Parliament)
June 11, 2009... MEPs are critical of the Council's slow handling of the Mexican flu crisis. During a debate at the European Parliament, on 4 May in Strasbourg, Dutch MEP Jules Maaten, the spokesperson for the ALDE group, said that he "deeply regretted" the way...

IMMIGRATION : NEW DIRECTIVES PAVE WAY FOR SELECTIVE IMMIGRATION.
June 11, 2009... The EU Council of Ministers killed two birds with one stone by adopting two directives on immigration, on 25 May. One creates a European blue card' to attract highly qualified applicants from non-EU countries and the other intends to sanction...

NEW PLATFORM AGAINST WINDFARMS.(European Platform Against Windfarms)(Brief article)
June 11, 2009... The European Platform Against Windfarms (EPAW) holds its first ever press conference in Brussels, on 26 May. According to the Paris-based NGO, windfarms are the "modern plague of Europe". EPAW calls for a moratorium on European wind energy...

FOOTBALL/FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT : OLIVIER BERNARD, THE FRENCH BOSMAN'?(Olympique Lyonnais)
June 11, 2009... Will Olivier Bernard's name become as famous in Court of Justice case law as that of a fellow football player, Belgian Jean-Marc Bosman? On 5 May, the EU Court of Justice held a hearing of the parties to a dispute pitting the French football...

PARIS DECLARATION.(European trade union leaders' meeting)(Brief article)
June 11, 2009... "A new social deal is needed in the European Union," said European trade union leaders, meeting in Paris on 27 and 28 May, to debate solutions to the crisis. At a conference sponsored by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), they...

EUROPEAN GLOBALISATION ADJUSTMENT FUND : PARLIAMENT PLENARY NODS TO REVISED CRITERIA.
June 11, 2009... The revision of the European Globalisation adjustment Fund (EGF) was approved by the European Parliament's plenary session, on 6 May, after an informal deal had been struck between members of the Parliament and the Council. The European...

ASYLUM PACKAGE : PARLIAMENT PUTS ASYLUM SEEKER AT CENTRE OF SYSTEM.
June 11, 2009... Overall, the European Parliament agrees with the Commission's asylum package' proposals (co-decision) aimed at putting the person seeking international protection in Europe back at the heart of the system and unburdening Mediterranean...

INTERVIEW WITH SWEDISH LABOUR MINISTER SVEN OTTO LITTORIN : "SOCIAL EUROPE STARTS WITH A JOB".(Interview)
June 11, 2009... At the extraordinary EU job summit, held on 7 May in Prague and devoted exclusively to the issue of employment in the Union, Swedish Labour Minister Sven Littorin explained to Europolitics Social that the Swedes will most certainly not push...

EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL POLICY COUNCIL : SPIDLA "ACCEPTS" GERMAN AND AUSTRIAN LABOUR MARKET MOVE.(Vladimir Spidla)
June 11, 2009... On behalf of the Czech EU Presidency, Social Affairs Minister Petr Simerka said he "regretted" the decision by Austria and Germany to retain 'transitional arrangements' for workers from the EU8 states that joined the EU in 2004. The affected...

ASYLUM : STATES WILLING TO HELP, BUT ON VOLUNTARY BASIS.(Brief article)
June 11, 2009... Pressure from Italy will not change a thing. Solidarity with countries like Malta, Italy, Spain, Cyprus and Greece, which are overwhelmed by asylum requests, will remain "voluntary," noted the European Commission and the home affairs ministers,...

EDUCATION AND CULTURE COUNCIL : STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK FOR EDUCATION APPROVED FOR COMING DECADE.
June 11, 2009... A new strategic framework' that offers guidelines for cooperation in reforming the EU member states' education and training systems over the next ten years was approved by the Union's education ministers, on 12 May in Brussels. The Council's...

EMPLOYMENT : STUDY POINTS TO MAJOR JOB BOOST FROM RENEWABLE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT.(Brief article)
June 11, 2009... A study, conducted on behalf of the European Commission, says that a gross total of around 2.8 million jobs could be created in the renewable energy sector if the EU managed to meet its renewable energy targets for 2020. Although the...

FREE MOVEMENT OF LABOUR : TYPE OF JOBS TAKEN UP BY MIGRANT WORKERS A CONCERN FOR ETUI.(Brief article)
June 11, 2009... Concerns about intra-EU labour migration flows "clearly relate to the sorts of work performed by most migrants in receiving countries," state the conclusions of a working paper on cross-border labour flows within the EU published by the...

ETUC : UNIONS MARCH TO DEMAND END TO "DESTRUCTIVE JOB CUTS".(European Trade Union Confederation )(Brief article)
June 11, 2009... An estimated 40,000 trade union members from France, the Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg marched on the streets of Brussels, on 15 May, demanding immediate action to protect their jobs during the economic downturn in response to a call by...

EMPLOYMENT SUMMIT : UNIONS REFUSE TO SIGN TEN MESSAGES'.
June 11, 2009... Arguing that it was "just not enough," John Monks, the general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) decided against signing the ten messages' on which the Czech-Swedish-Spanish trio of European Union Presidencies and the...

FLU PANDEMIC : VETERINARY EXPERTS REMAIN CAUTIOUS ON ROLE OF PIGS IN OUTBREAK.
June 11, 2009... Although EU veterinary experts do not see any justification for the restrictions on trade in pigs imposed by many countries around the world, they are nevertheless convinced that pig farmers in the Union must take precautions against viral...

FREE MOVEMENT : WILL FOREIGN TOURISTS SOON BE BANNED FROM COFFEE SHOPS?(Brief article)
June 11, 2009... Tired of the nuisances generated by drug tourism, the Netherlands is considering a more restrictive approach to access to coffee shops on the Belgian border: marijuana buyers will have to present an access card in order to be able to obtain...

YOUTH COUNCIL CONCLUSIONS.(Brief article)
June 11, 2009... At the close of a public debate on the evaluation of the current framework for European cooperation in the area of youth, on 11 May in Brussels, the Education, Youth and Culture Council adopted its conclusions. From the perspective of the...