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MEPs believe that the EU enlargement process must continue - but add that the candidate countries must implement the requisite reforms. In a draft resolution by Richard Howitt (S&D, UK), [...]

On 18 April in Brussels, the EU and Cape Verde signed an agreement on the readmission of clandestine migrants. The main objective of this agreement is to establish, on the [...]

Europe's ageing population will be at the heart of the Polish Presidency's social priorities. In the absence of innovative proposals on social policy, the white paper on the adequacy and [...]

The future Commissioner responsible for Regional Policy, Johannes Hahn (Austria), is «convinced» that future cohesion policy must be aimed at the entire EU territory, not just the poorest regions. He [...]

The new Hungarian candidate Commissioner is the economist László Andor. If all goes well during the hearings in the European Parliament, Andor will soon take over the social policy and [...]

The European Parliament wants to approve decisions on freezing the assets of alleged terrorists in Europe, an area that until now has been exclusively dealt with by the EU Council. [...]

The constitutive meeting of a new civil society platform for the promotion of multilingualism was held in Brussels, on 23 October. Its objective is to promote a permanent dialogue between [...]

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is 'strongly critical' of the European Commission's 22 October proposal to deliver on the business agenda of 'reducing red tape for businesses' (see Europolitics [...]

One of the most important consequences of EU enlargement in May 2004 was to extend the principle of the free movement of labour to the citizens of the Central and [...]

The European Commission will propose, on 14 July, to the member states to exempt citizens of Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro from the visa requirement for entry into the EU. 'The [...]

In the wake of the recent failure of the revision of the Working Time Directive, the European Commission is still in the process of devising a solution. The Swedish EU [...]

In 2006, barely 0.3% of young people aged 16 to 19 were able to go abroad with support from European programmes. Based on this finding and encouraged by theCouncil, the [...]

The Swedish EU Presidency is expected to put social and employment policy back on the front burner following Prague's low key approach during the past six months. While some Czech [...]

While the Irish government is pleased with the draft of the solemn declaration on workers' rights and social policy', the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) is taking a different [...]

There seems to be wide consensus at this stage on the draft version of the legal guarantees to be given to Ireland for its organisation of a second referendum on [...]

EU member states have given the green light for new child safety standards for childproof locking devices for windows and balcony doors and baby bathing articles. The vote took place [...]

The urgent problem of global warming was compounded in 2008 by a proliferation of crises - food, financial, economic, social, etc - reinforcing the need for the European Union to [...]

An amicable arrangement may be in the making between the European Commission and the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS), which is the target of an anti-trust procedure. The IACS [...]

On behalf of the Czech EU Presidency, Social Affairs Minister Petr Simerka said he 'regretted' the decision by Austria and Germany to retain 'transitional arrangements' for workers from the EU8 [...]

Unanimity among the member states - which is a requirement for the draft anti-discrimination directive to be approved - seems as remote as ever. This emerges from a progress report [...]

The European Commission intends to change the rules for the use of the European Social Fund (ESF) for the years 2009-2010 in order to support 'people who are hit by [...]

The chances for an early revision of the Posted Workers Directive remain very slim as the social partners still seem unable to carry out a quick joint analysis of the [...]

A proposal to clear the way for EU member states to draw money from the European Social Fund (ESF) without the need to co-finance ESF projects is scheduled to be [...]

With the European elections looming and only months away from the end of its term of office, on 31 October, the Barroso Commission is taking stock of its performance. Its [...]

Only ten of the 27 EU countries have set up the single European hotline number, 116000, for missing children, the European Commission said, on 25 May, when the world marked [...]

The Irish government is close to signing off on what it wants from the protocols it was guaranteed to secure a yes' vote in a second Lisbon referendum. According to [...]

Talks on the revision of the Working Time Directive collapsed minutes after midnight, on 27 April. The biggest of all stumbling blocks was the opt-out clause. Wrapping up hours of [...]

The revision of the Working Time Directive, which many had written off as dead and buried, may still have a fighting chance. The European Commission's compromise package' was received with [...]

The European Parliament has, on 16 April, agreed on a four-page compromise package' on the biggest bone of contention in the revision of the Working Time Directive: the opt-out. The [...]

The EU must improve the way victims are treated during criminal proceedings. That is the main conclusion of a report that the European Commission will adopt, in principle on 24 [...]

On 6 April in Luxembourg, the Czech EU Presidency tried to build a European common approach' to the possible admission of ex-inmates of the American prison camp of Guantanamo (Cuba), [...]

The negotiations on a new cooperation agreement between the EU and Russia should be used as an opportunity to discuss the human rights situation in the country, improve the security [...]

The European Commission should develop an ambitious social policy agenda in the context of the current economic recession, argues the European Parliament's Committee on Employment and Social Affairs in its [...]

Access to a minimum income and to social services is a precondition for integration into the labour market, said the European Parliament's Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, on 31 [...]

Children under age 12 will be exempted from the requirement of being fingerprinted for obtaining a visa for entry to the Schengen area. This is one of the agreements reached [...]

Although the European Parliament's Civil Rights Committee voted, on 16 March, in favour of a consultation report by Kathalijne Buitenweg (Greens-EFA, Netherlands) on the European Commission's July 2008 proposal for [...]

The Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper I) agreed, on 11 March, a new compromise text on the revision of the Working Time Directivea(see Europolitics 3711). The document, containing about 20 [...]

Given the frenetic pace of proposals to do with managing the EU's external borders and immigration, the European Parliament, in an own-initiative report and a resolution adopted on 10 March, [...]

The coordination of social policies at EU level can 'cushion' the impact of the economic crisis and help recovery, says the European Commission's Joint report on social protection and social [...]

The reflection group assigned by the European Council with the task of pondering the future of Europe to 2020-2030 questioned French MEP Alain Lamassoure (EPP-ED), on 11 February, on the [...]

The issue of the free movement of labour topped the agenda on the first day of the informal Employment and Social Affairs Council, held on 22 January in the Czech [...]

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso met with social innovation experts and stakeholders in Brussels, at the close of a workshop on social innovation, on 21 January. The objective of [...]

As Europolitics has already reported (special edition on the Czech EU Presidency, 3665), the European Parliament will take the initiative to publish a kind of action plan on urban mobility [...]

The Czech EU Presidency has made progress in the project for the exchange of police and criminal information SIS (Schengen Information System) II in the enlarged Schengen area one of [...]

The leader of the European Socialists, Martin Schultz, has described as 'wholly unacceptable' the conclusions of an article written by Czech President Vaclav Klaus and published in The Financial Times, [...]

The Czechs are not expected to highlight the European Union's social policy and may put it on the back burner during their Presidency. Only in the context of a free [...]

At a press conference following the Employment and Social Affairs Council meeting, on 17 December, French Minister Xavier Bertrand described with satisfaction the ministers' track record over the past six [...]

The revised Directive on European works councils is reaching the end of its legislative path: the European Parliament endorsed, in plenary on 16 December, the compromise text on which consensus [...]

The European Commission officially presented, on 15 December, its green paper on the EU workforce for health, which was adopted on 11 December and covered in detail in Europolitics 3658. [...]

Eurochambres, BusinessEurope, CEEP and UEAPME have expressed their 'serious concerns' about the Working Time Directive in a joint letter to MEPs. They urge the MEPs to vote against the amendments [...]