European Union News - 2009

The European Union offers young Europeans the opportunity to express their views and help build a sustainable world. On the eve of the tenth International Youth Day, the European Union has highlighted again that, if society is to make sustainable progress, young people must take a fuller part in social, economic and political life.

The EU-funded project SFERA ('Structural funds for European regional research advancement') and the Portuguese Innovation Agency (ADI) are organising a conference entitled 'ICT (information and communication technology) as a means of accelerating the economic recovery: strategies for regional development and use structural funds' on 17 September in Faro, Portugal.

The closing date for the pan-European photography competition organised by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) is fast approaching. Based on safe and healthy workplaces, final entries can still be submitted up until 15th August 2009. The competition has so far attracted significant interest from citizens across the European Union with over 500 entries to date.

The Commission has published a communication to set the criteria for the analysis of the compatibility of State aid
for the employment of disadvantaged and disabled workers subject to individual notification.The aim is that companies of the member states increase the number of people with disabilities in the workforce.

The European Commission has chaired a regular audioconference of the EU Health Security Committee and the national contact points for communicable disease network on influenza A (H1N1)v. The items on the agenda were vaccination issues and broader public health measures for influenza A (H1N1)v. EU Member States and relevant Commission services and EU scientific agencies participated in the meeting.

As part of the Intercultural Cities programme, EUROCITIES coordinated a one-year programme whose results have been gathered in a document entitled "Intercultural cities - A journey through 23 European cities". This document presents concrete policies, actions and events implemented by cities to foster intercultural dialogue.

The European Commission has launched a pilot project which aims to study air quality in schools from both the EU and candidate countries and Central and Eastern Europe. The study will develop guidelines to cover different situations in order to create healthy school environments.

The European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS)has just released the 'Forest Fires in Europe 2008' report which shows the impact of forest fires in Europe for 2008. This report manifests that 180 000 hectares of land in the EU burnt in 2008, compared to a 200 000 in August 2009.

The European Commission is organising information days on the upcoming calls for proposals under the Transport Theme of the Seventh Framework Programme on 28 and 29 September in Brussels, Belgium. The latest call for proposals under the Transport Theme were published in July, and they are related to air transport, trans-European transport and sustainable surface transport.

The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) is supporting, for the first time, the Healthy Workplaces Film Award for the best documentary on work-related topics. The award is endowed with € 8,000 and is presented at the 52nd International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film (DOK Leipzig).

The European Commission has selected 50 Masters Courses and 13 Joint Doctorates to be added to the courses available under the EU's Erasmus Mundus programme for stronger European co-operation and international ties in higher education. The new courses involve 296 universities from Europe and 70 partner universities from a range of countries around the world.

The European Union says that the environment is seriously damaged by the hundreds of merchant ships thet are dismantled each year, leaving out large quantities of hazardous waste such as asbestos, PCB and oil sludges. Moreover, in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, where the majority of the dismantling industry is set, working conditions are so poor that each year hundreds of workers suffer serious accidents. Nearly a quarter of the ships dismantled come from Europe.