European Union News - Social Affairs

The data on EU structural funds in 2011 published by the European Commission, show that the effective use of these funds gathered pace in 2011. EU structural funds in 2011 helped to further the Single Market through investments in a broad range of strategic and growth-enhancing areas, including broadband connections, research and development infrastructure, innovation projects, new Small- and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) and education.

The Civil Liberties Committee approved a draft law which aims at making easier the transfer of non-EU skilled employees working for multinational companies from a branch outside the EU to a division or subsidiary within the EU. MEPs amended the draft law to make also easier to move transferred workers between EU Member States.

The European Ombudsman has found a friendly solution to the dispute between the European Commission and the NGO Migration Policy Group (MPG) concerning an EU project launched as part of the "European Migration Dialogue". The NGO will receive €70,000 from the Commission.

The resolution approved by the European Parliament calls on the Commission for urgent measures to halve food waste by 2025 and to improve access to food for needy EU citizens. Among the proposed measures, MEPs suggest that foods close to their expiry dates and damaged food products should be sold at discounted prices, to make them more accessible to people in need.

The group of microcredit providers under Progress Microfinance counts now with the Instituto de Crédito y Finanzas Región de Murcia (ICREF) with a senior loan of up to €8 million which is expected generate, thanks to the leverage effect, up to €20 million in microloans. The European Progress Microfinance Fund does not provide direct financing to micro-entrepreneurs or individuals, but it works through microfinance providers, such as ICREF in Spain.

The Eurobarometer presented by the European Parliament shows that 49% of Europeans interviewed felt that Parliament should focus first on the fight against poverty and social inclusion. The survey also found that 40% of Europeans would like to receive more information from the European Parliament on possible ways to tackle the crisis.

The European Commission presented a new Eurobarometer survey in which it assures that Europeans are ready for 'active ageing'. In particular, over 60% believe that we should be allowed to continue working after retirement age and one third says that they would like to work longer themselves. For most citizens, people aged 55 years and older play a major role in key areas of society.

Eurostat published its latest statistics on the active ageing in the EU which show that the employment rate for persons aged 60-64 increased from 23% in 2000 to 31% in 2010 and from 50% to 61% for those aged 55-59. With regard to the statistics by country, the share of those aged 55 and over varied between 21% in Ireland and 33% in Germany and Italy in 2010.

After a moderate labour market recovery which lasted until the middle of 2011, European employment is down again in December 2011, according the statistics published by the Commission. In addition, there are rising social concerns across Europe. The Commission also reminds the results of a recent study which shows that on-going fiscal consolidation measures may aggravate further the situation of the most vulnerable.