Employment and social rights

• 13/12/2006 - Fight against unemployment
  €500m help for those made jobless by globalisation

  Help is on the way for workers made redundant as a result of trade liberalisation. The European globalisation adjustment fund (EGF) will pay out up to €500m a year in financial support to help people find new jobs.
  

• 12/12/2006 - Jobs
  Economic outlook bright for Europe

  Reforms under way as part of the EU's growth and jobs strategy are yielding results, and Europe's economy has moved up a gear, concludes the Commission in a report published today (12 December).
  

• 04/12/2006 - People with disabilities
  Young people speak on disability

  Young people are being given the floor at an EU conference to mark the European Day of People with Disabilities (3 December). The theme this year is "Youth = Future. Let's make an equal future for all".
  

• 15/11/2006 - Gender equality
  Equality one step closer for Mediterranean women

  The role of women in the Mediterranean rim countries was in the spotlight at a first conference between EU and Mediterranean ministers in Istanbul on 14-15 November. On the table were measures to promote women's rights and their full participation in the region’s societies. Hopefully a significant milestone on the road to gender equality in the region, it builds on a previous work plan, agreed in Barcelona in 2005.
  

• 27/10/2006 - Family & demography
  Deficit cuts and pension reforms now for sustainable public finances in the future

  On 12 October the Commission adopted a Communication on the Long-Term Sustainability of Public Finances in the EU, which was accompanied by a study. The two documents highlight the benefits that reducing public deficits and debt, as well as pursuing structural reforms would bring to Member States. EU countries would thereby achieve balanced budgets in the medium-term and be better prepared to face the daunting pension costs of an ageing population.
  

• 27/10/2006 - Family & demography
  Ageing population: from challenge to opportunity

  Member States need to step up efforts to address the expected decrease in size of the working-age population and the prospect of slippage in public finances. In a Communication issued on 12 October, the Commission set out five areas in which concrete action should be taken at Member State level.
  

• 18/09/2006
  Posting of workers to become less bureaucratic and quicker

  The European Commission published guidance on 4 April to help Member State governments, businesses and workers understand their rights and obligations when companies post workers to another EU country. The guidelines, meant to facilitate implementation of the Posted Workers Directive, were published jointly to the Commission's amended proposal for a Services Directive.