European Union News - Social Affairs

The third Demography Report published by the European Commission and the European Statistical Office (Eurostat) shows that Europeans are living longer and healthier lives. The report confirms recent trends and brings new data on fertility, life expectancy and migration with a special focus on mobility and migration, in issues such as cross-border working experiences and family patterns. These data are key in order to adjust certain policy developments according to the demographic changes a real population needs.

The President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, the EU Commissioner responsible for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, László Andor, the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy and Hungarian Prime minister Viktor Orban – for the Presidency of the Council – have met at the Tripartite Social Summit with European workers' and employers' representatives. The Tripartite Social Summit meets twice a year, ahead of the spring and autumn European Councils and is an important opportunity for institutions and social partners to exchange views.

The European Commission has decided to set up a major multi-national research databank on population ageing, which will be the first ever research infrastructure project to enjoy the new legal status as a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC). This legal status will make such projects easier to set up and simpler to run. Commission's Decision setting up SHARE-ERIC Consortium has been published in the Official Journal of the EU on 18 March.

Non-EU workers in Europe should have the same rights regarding working time, leave and social security as EU nationals, said the Employment Committee on Wednesday. However, MEPs also made it clear that Member States may choose to allow tax benefits only when workers' family members live in the same country. In addition, they backed the Commission's proposal to exclude posted workers from the scope of legislation.

The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound), has released a study focused on local employment initiatives involving the cooperation of various public and private stakeholders. The report, entitled “Joint public-private local partnerships for employment to cope with the recession” examines how such local partnerships have been and are being used across the EU and Norway to prevent or counteract the effects of the economic crisis on labour markets, concluding that in many European countries LPPPs still represent untapped potential.

According to the report on the implementation of Regulation concerning the Labour Cost Index (LCI) (COM(2011) 102 final), the overall degree of compliance with the LCI Regulation has continued to increase since the previous report in 2008. The report reveals that most Member States are now compliant and have continued to channel resources into implementing actions to achieve more comparable and timely index series.

At the Plenary Session of the Parliament held on 9 March, MEPs voted on a Resolution calling for the establishment of binding targets to enhance access to employment, education, housing and health of the nearly 12 million Roma currently living in the EU. The resolution lays down the MEPs priorities regarding the EU strategy on Roma inclusion, which the Commission is extected to present in April. These key elements include the protection of fundamental rights and use of European funds.

To celebrate the 100th International Women Day, the European Union wanted to take the opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women throughout all these years around the world both economically, socially, politically and in the cultural fields. Under the theme "Equal access to education, training and science and technology", this day highlights the importance of equal access to training and education in order to really guarantee equal opportunities between women and men.