European Union News - Social Affairs

The European Commission has adopted the EU Disability Strategy aiming to eradicate the existing barriers which prevent millions of EU citizens from having access to many services and are major obstacles which put many activities out of reach. This strategy includes specific measures to be developed in the coming years in order to increase the accessibility and public awareness in this area.

Between 6 and 7 October 2010 Heads of State and Government from Europe, Africa and rest of the world; high-level representatives of governments, international organisations as well as development practitioners, NGOs, media and civil society will be in Brussels for the Fifth European Development Days. Registration will be opened until 15 November.

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) has published a report analysing some issues about racism, ethnic discrimination and social exclusion of  of migrants and minorities in sport. The report shows that although improvement has been achieved, little attention is still paid to the fact that minorities and migrants are underrepresented in sport, particularly in the management positions of sport organisations.

According to a study published by the European Commission on 26 October, flexible working time arrangements benefit both employers and workers. This report which has been released within the celebration of an informal meeting of ministers for gender equality put forward a series of indicators comparing different policies and measures within EU member states as well as EEE-EFTA countries.

The Council of Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs, meeting in Luxembourg on 21 October, held a policy debate and adopted the policy guidelines governing the European Employment Strategy. The three integrated guidelines concerning employment are part of the broad strategy and are completed with two additional targets belonging to the broad guidelines for economic policies of member states.

On 20 October, MEPs voted in favour of the drafted resolution which proposes to extend minimum maternity leave in the European Union from 14 to 20 weeks with full pay. In this resolution, the Parliament extends Commission's proposal of a 18 weeks extension by 2 additional weeks, and introduces a paternity leave of at least 2 weeks.

The Plenary session of the European Parliament gave the go-ahead on Tuesday for EU funding for 3,731 workers in Portugal, the Netherlands, Spain and Denmark. The money will go to people who became redundant following to the closure of their companies.

Marking the celebration of the International Day for the eradication of Poverty, around eighteen representatives of philosophical non-confessional organisations met in Brussels on 17 October with President José Manuel Barroso, Jerzy Buzek, President of the European Parliament and Herman van Rompuy, President of the European Council. They discussed effective ways of combating poverty and social exclusion as an imperative for European governance.

During the celebration of the European Parliament plenary session, MEPs adopted on 7 October, two resolutions seeking a more flexible cohesion policy, which will take into account the characteristics of different regions as well as simplify the procedures and improve systems for monitoring and evaluation.

Food aid plans submitted by Member States for the 2011 Aid for the Needy Scheme were voted in the Single CMO Management Committee. Next year 20 Member States will use the scheme, with the Czech Republic participating for the first time. The allocated budget of 500 million Euros is the same as for the 2009 and 2010 plans. The scheme for 2011 is not related to the recent adapted proposal to adjust the scheme in future.