European Union News - Social Affairs

The Presidency's report on Roma inclusion has been endorsed by the EU leaders at the European Council meeting on 23 and 24 of June. The EU framework for national Roma integration strategies up to 2020 has as main goals the preparation, updating and development of Member States' national Roma inclusion strategies. The EU leaders asked for an application of the sets of policy measures within their broader social inclusion policies for improving the situation of the Roma by the end of 2011.

The Green Paper presented by the European Commission aims to gather stakeholders’ views on the modernisation of the Professional Qualifications Directive (Directive 2005/36/EC). In the light of the results published in the paper, the Commission has decided to update the Directive with the possible ways forward that build on past achievements while developing new approaches to enhance mobility.

According to the new EU Regulation in matters related to maintenance obligation in cross-border situations, applicable from June 18th 2011, children and families across the European Union will benefit from speedier maintenance payments when families split up. Thanks to a new EU-wide system, absent parents will no longer be able to evade their obligations.

€113 million is the total quantity allocated for the 2012 programme for the supply of food for the most deprived persons in the European Union. In recent years, €500 million was granted but a ruling by the Court of Justice in April stating that the current regulation requires the food covered by this scheme to come from EU public stocks. This is the reason why the 2012 scheme is exclusively based on all the available existing intervention stocks.

After a discussion in the Council on 17 June showed diverging views between ministers, with some even proposing to stop trying to reach a deal, the MEP responsible on maternity leave report, Edite Estrela, criticised the lack of progress by Member States on plans to modernise existing legislation on the subject.

The EASO, the European Asylum Support Office, is from now fully operational. The EASO is established with the aim of enhancing practical cooperation on asylum matters, and helping Member States fulfil their European and international obligations to give protection to people in need.

EP opposes death sentence to be imposed by US military court on Guantanamo detainee Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. The MEPs are also concerned at the selective prosecution of key opposition leaders in Ukraine and condemned abuses of power by government and security forces in Madagascar.

According to the Commission, the 'asylum legislative package', i.e. the modified proposals on the Reception Conditions and the Asylum Procedures Directives will ensure faster, fairer and more efficient rules to the benefit of Member States and people seeking international protection. Cecilia Malmström, Commissioner for Home Affairs stated on this issue that is why EU must respect its commitment to establish a Common European Asylum System by 2012.

The EP Women's Rights Committee at the European Parliament agreed in a resolution that in order to boost the number of women in decision-making positions to 30% by 2015 and to 40% by 2020, EU legislation is needed. In a separate resolution MEPs think that a better use could be made of the funding opportunities available for female entrepreneurs.