European Union News - Social Affairs

The figures published by Eurostat show that the euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 11.3% in July 2012, stable compared with June. Also it was stable the EU unemployment rate, at 10.4% in July 2012. Among the Member States, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Austria, the Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg, and the highest in Spain and Greece.

The European Commission published a Communication that outlines how future EU aid should work to help putting in place social protection policies and systems. In particular, it explains how EU development cooperation can support the strengthening these policies and systems.

The European Commission is supporting a project that is expected to accommodate 150,000 women to access to safe delivery and emergency obstetric and neonatal care services in Zimbabwe. The project's overall objective is to contribute to the reduction in maternal mortality through the revitalization of maternity waiting homes which will improve access to skilled attendance at delivery for high risk pregnancies.

The LEPAS collaborative project, which has tackled the urgent need to better understand how an ageing population is likely to influence the economy and whether or not those changes will be sustainable, found out that Europe’s population is ageing at an unprecedented rate, faster than any other continent, and is economically unsustainable.

The European Agency Eurofound published a study which shows that the actual working week for full time workers stood at 39.7 hours across the 27 EU Member States in 2011. This means an average of 1.6 hours more than the agreed working hours. In addition, the latest annual update of working time developments also shows that men continue to work longer hours than women on paid work, on average 2.1 hours more per week.

The joint proposal from the European social partners to extend the negotiating period on reviewing the Working Time Directive to 31 December 2012 has been agreed by the European Commission. The review of this legislation is aimed at updating EU working time rules to take account of profound changes in the world of work and to better meet the needs of employers and workers in the 21st century.

The European Commission has opened the submissions for the 3rd Access City Award, which recognises accessible and age-friendly urban environments. The Award is part of the EU's wider effort to create a barrier-free Europe. In 2010, the launching year, the Award went to Avila, in Spain. In 2011, the winner was Salzburg, in Austria.

A report presented by Eurofound shows that the transformation of the retail sector in recent years, due to technological innovations and the increasing dominance of large retailers, has affected career patterns, working conditions and employment status. In addition to this, the report illustrates a significant decline in the number of self-employed and a substantial increase in the number of part-time jobs and non-permanent contracts.