European Union News - Social Affairs

On the occasion of the meeting between the Committee of the Regions and national ministries of Urban Development held in Toledo (Spain), President of the Committee, Mercedes Bresso, stressed the need for future EU regional funding to increase attention in bridging infraregional disparities. At this meeting President Bresso presented the results of the recent CoR opinion, prepared at the request of the Spanish presidency.

According to data provided by the last  Eurobarometer survey on social impacts of the crisis, there are more and more Europeans who struggle to meet their current expenses. To the general perception of the gravity of poverty around them, more Europeans are concerned about keeping their jobs or the payment of pension and sanitary expenses.

According to new figures released by Commissioner Vassiliou, almost 200. 000 higher education students received grants to study or train abroad, a figure which represents an increase of 8.7%. This increase is even more significant in the case of  of students going on company placements, as figures went up more than 50% in relation to the previous year. Besides, more than 36.000 staff from higher education institutions also benefited from the possibility to receive training in any of the 31 countries taking part in the Programme.

The European Parliament has recently approved a resolution aiming to introduce some community rules to govern the activities of sports agents. Among measures proposed by MEPs are the prohibition of remuneration to agents in cases of minor players transfers, the creation of system of licenses, a mechanism of discipline and control, a progressive remuneration system based on compliance of the contract and strict exam criteria in order to become an agent.

The meeting of the European Council taking place in Brussels on Thursday June 17th 2010, which ended up Spanish Presidency of the European Union, achieved the adoption of a new 10-year strategy for jobs and growth. European leaders also reinforced their determination to ensure fiscal sustainability, committing to ensure financial stability and agreed on the need to reinforce coordination of economic policies.

EU leaders will focus on jobs and growth. They are expected to adopt "Europe 2020", the new strategy for jobs and growth, when they meet in Brussels on 17 June. The one-day meeting chaired by Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, will also discuss the forthcoming G 20 summit, economic governance and post-Copenhagen climate strategy.

The Official Journal of the European Union has issued a call for proposals under the programme "Youth in action" to support, on an experimental basis, youth workers’ mobility and exchanges

The European Commission launched a public consultation today on a new EU children's rights strategy. The answers will be used to find out how EU policies can do more to promote children’s rights. The consultation will cover issues like child-friendly justice, violence against children, child poverty and child participation. It is open until 20 August 2010.

With the onset of the economic crisis in 2008, a very positive development of small and medium enterprises (SME) has come to a halt. Between 2002 and 2008, SMEs in the EU turned out to be the most important European Economy job engine. With 9.4 million jobs created between 2002 and 2008 SMEs outperformed large firms. This is in sharp contrast to an estimated loss of 3.25 million jobs in the SME sector over 2009 and 2010 further to the annual SME report.

The European Commission has presented its new vision for the future of vocational education and training. Vocational education and training is chosen by an average of around 50% of all students in upper secondary education. However, the sector needs to be modernised to make it a more attractive and high-quality option

The final Employment and Social Policy Council held under the Spanish Presidency in Luxembourg has agreed to try to reduce the number of people at risk of poverty by at least 20 million in the coming decade