European Social Policy articles from May 2009

European Social Policy archives from May 2009

EU/CROATIA/SLOVENIA : REHN EXPECTS SOLUTION TO BORDER ROW BY EARLY MAY.(Olli Rehn)
May 5, 2009... Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn is "confident" that an "early" solution will be found to the border dispute between Croatia and Slovenia. The Union's foreign ministers, meeting on 27 April in Luxembourg, gave him their strong support. The...

AGEING : AGEING TO COST EU EXTRA 4.75% BY 2060.(Brief article)
May 5, 2009... A report released by the European Commission, on 29 April, has found that member states will be paying an extra 4.75% of GDP in 2060 to deal with the effects of an older population. From 2015, deaths will outnumber births in the EU, and by...

PATIENT MOBILITY : BOWIS REPORT OBTAINS MAJORITY SUPPORT IN PARLIAMENT.(John Bowis)
May 5, 2009... The cross-border health care report, drafted by John Bowis (EPP-ED, UK), was adopted, on 23 April, during first reading in the European Parliament and it also received the backing of the EPP-ED and the ALDE groups. The European Liberals said...

LABOUR DAY : BUSINESS AND UNIONS UNITE IN CALL FOR CRISIS ACTION.(BusinessEurope)
May 5, 2009... On the eve of 1 May Labour Day, which was born in the late 19th century out of a struggle by workers for better working conditions and which is a public holiday in the best part of the European Union, Europolitics Social put three questions to...

WORKING TIME DIRECTIVE : BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS WORRIED ABOUT CALCULATION OF ON-CALL TIME.
May 5, 2009... European business organisations are urging the EU executive to take action after the revision of the Working Time Directive failed miserably, on 27 April. The umbrella organisation BusinessEurope, representing over 20 million companies, has...

YOUTH POLICY : COMMISSION ADOPTS NEW STRATEGY FOR NEXT DECADE.
May 5, 2009... On 27 April, the European Commission adopted a communication on the EU's new youth policy strategy' for the coming decade. Those in the 15 to 29 age group represent around 20% of the EU's population. By 2050, this proportion is expected to...

IMMIGRATION : COMMISSION REASSURES GERMANY ON ITS ASYLUM SYSTEM.
May 5, 2009... The European Commission has no intention of further questioning the German asylum system. In the face of criticisms of the recent EU propositions intended to improve the lot of asylum seekers in the European Union from Germany claiming that...

EMPLOYMENT : CRISIS DARKENS LABOUR MARKET PROSPECTS.
May 5, 2009... Although companies across Europe are continuing to make substantial job cuts, there has been a fall-off in the number of announced job losses in March compared to previous months. Nevertheless, with overall business and consumer confidence...

EP JOINS ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORKS.(European Parliament's Facebook and MySpace accounts)(Brief article)
May 5, 2009... The European Parliament has just created a profile on the online community Facebook and another on the MySpace platform for the elections between 4 and 7 June. A selection of photos is also available on Flickr with daily updates on the...

PREGNANT WORKERS : EP WANTS 20 WEEKS OF PAID MATERNITY LEAVE.(European Parliament)
May 5, 2009... The European Parliament's Women's Rights Committee wants to extend the period of paid maternity leave to a minimum of 20 weeks. This would add two weeks to the European Commission's proposed extension (from 14 to 18 weeks). Six weeks have to be...

UNEMPLOYMENT : EU JOBLESS TOTAL TOPS 20 MILLION.(European Union)(Brief article)
May 5, 2009... Unemployment in the EU climbed to 8.3% in March 2009, compared with 8.1% in February and 6.7% in March 2008. In the eurozone, it was 8.9% in March 2009, compared with 8.7% in February and 7.2% in March 2008. According to estimates put out by...

"MEXICAN FLU" : EU PONDERS TRAVEL BAN.(European Union)
May 5, 2009... An EU wide ban on travel to Mexico was not likely not be adopted by the health ministers, who were holding a meeting, on 30 April, to discuss the state of play of the measures in the member states to combat the Mexican flu'. They also...

SMES : EUROCHAMBRES AND UEAPME WANT BETTER IMPACT ASSESSMENT.(European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises)(Brief article)
May 5, 2009... Eurochambres, the European Association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and UEAPME, theaEuropean Association of Craft, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, launched an appeal, on 28 April, to the European Commission, the Parliament and the...

GUANTANAMO : EUROPE GETS ANSWERS FROM WASHINGTON.
May 5, 2009... The debate on the possibility of Europe taking in ex-inmates of the Guantanamo prison camp is expected to switch into higher gear soon. The European Commission has just received a request from the United States, which "officially seeks an...

SOLIDARITY : EUROPE MARKS DAY OF INTERGENERATIONAL SOLIDARITY.(Brief article)
May 5, 2009... The first European Day of Solidarity between Generations was held on 29 April, one year to the day after the conference on Intergenerational Solidarity for Cohesive and Sustainable Societies, held in Brdo, Slovenia. The European day was...

FIRST EUROPEAN DAY OF INTERGENERATIONAL SOLIDARITY.(Brief article)
May 5, 2009... The first European Day of Solidarity between generations, an initiative from civil society organisations, takes place on 29 April. Throughout the European Union, conferences and events are organised on this theme. The European Commission has...

IMMIGRATION : FORUM AND WEBSITE SPOTLIGHT INTEGRATION.(European Integration Forum and the European Economic and Social Committee)
May 5, 2009... Two new tools meant to contribute to the integration of non-EU nationals living in the European Union were inaugurated on 20 April. The first is the European Integration Forum, a structure organised through cooperation between the European...

WORKING TIME DIRECTIVE : LAST EFFORT AT CONCILIATION.
May 5, 2009... The revision of the Working Time Directive, which many had written off as dead and buried, may still have a fighting chance. The European Commission's compromise package' was received with cautious optimism and was described as a "solid basis...

IMMIGRATION : MEPS SEEK VOTING RIGHTS FOR MIGRANTS IN LOCAL ELECTIONS.(members of the Parliament)
May 5, 2009... In a (non-binding) own initiative report, MEPs call on member states to authorise legal migrants to vote in local elections. At the same time, the text bya Simon Busuttil (EPP-ED, Malta), adopted on 22 April in Strasbourg by 485 votes in...

MINISTERS DISCUSS GUANTANAMO INMATES.(Brief article)
May 5, 2009... As noted by the European Commission and the Czech EU Presidency, the Americans are willing to take in some of the prisoners released from Guantanamo. This is one of the conditions for Europe's agreement to do the same, highlighted at the...

EUROPEAN WORKS COUNCILS : NEW DIRECTIVE BOOSTS WORKER POWER IN BIG FIRMS.
May 5, 2009... Workers' representatives at European level will from now on be better informed and consulted in case of "international changes" so they can play their full role in anticipating and managing these changes. The Council adopted, on 23 April, a...

EDUCATION : NUMBER OF HIGHER EDUCATION GRADUATES UP IN EU.(European Union)(Brief article)
May 5, 2009... In 2007, 30% of those aged 25-34 had graduated from tertiary education, compared with 25% of those aged 35-44 and 19% of those aged 45-64. In the EU, the proportion of the population having completed higher education, ie tertiary level...

OPENING OF BELGIAN LABOUR MARKET.(Brief article)
May 5, 2009... As of 1 May, Belgium will allow the free movement on its territory of workers from eight eastern European countries which joined the European Union in 2004 (Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia and...

PENSION FUNDS: INFRINGEMENT BY POLAND.(Brief article)
May 5, 2009... The European Commission has decided to initiate proceedings against Poland before the EU Court of Justice after concluding that restrictions on investments by Polish open pension funds (OPFs) in other member states are an infringement of rules...

PRAGUE TO HOST JOB SUMMIT.(Brief article)
May 5, 2009... It is now final: Prague will be the venue for the EU's crisis job summit'. The format of the summit -p scheduled for 7 May - will be the same as that of the tripartite social summit. It will be attended by the European social partners (ETUC,...