European Union News - Social Affairs

The European Parliament and the Council have adopted a decision on the mobilisation an amount of 1,844,700 EUR of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Galicia in response to the request made by Spain on February 2010.

On 4 August 2010, Directive 2010/41/EU on self-employed workers and assisting spouses has definitely entered into force. This legal provision will grant self-employed workers and their partners better social protection, including the right to maternity leave for the first time. Member states will have two years to transpose these new provisions to their respective national legal systems.

According to a report released by the European Working Conditions Observatory, average rates of absence across Europe are between 3% and 6% of working time and the cost is estimated to be about 2.5% of GDP. This study shows that while some countries are attempting to control costs, others put the emphasis on promoting health and well-being.

The European Union has published in the EU Official Journal of 24 July 2010 a notice addressed to intermediaries aiming to provide micro-credits or guarantees supporting micro-credits, about the implementation of the Guarantee Action under the European Progress Microfinance Facility. Among the 100 M€ channelled through Progress Facility, 25 M€ will be allocated to this Action Guarantee.

Around twenty senior representatives from the main religious confessions discussed effective ways of combating poverty and social exclusion as an imperative for European governance. Representatives from Christian, Jewish, Muslim religions as well as from the Sikh and Hindu communities met in Brussels on the invitation of President José Manuel Barroso in an event co-chaired by Jerzy Buzek, President of the European Parliament and Herman van Rompuy, President of the European Council.

In his first visit to the European Training Foundation (ETF), new Director of Lifelong Learning at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Education and Culture (DG EAC), Mr.  Pierre Mairesse, made a strong statement in favour of education as a key element for European future.

In order to get a better understanding about the conditions under which victims of crime and violence are treated after going through such a traumatic experience, the European Commission has launched a public consultation on how victims are protected in different countries. The results will provide the basis for the development of standards and practical measures to be proposed in the first half of 2011.

The European Parliament has adopted a resolution calling the Commission to propose a strategy involving botgh legislative and non-legislative measures to encourage green jobs. MEPs consider in its resolution that crisis should be addressed as an opportunity for the creation of new formulas for  sustainable growth, and that training and education systems must be tailored to match these new types of work.