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The aim of this paper is to focus on a specific part of the Better Regulation procedures: the Regulatory Fitness and Performance programme (REFIT). Within the Better Regulation process, the REFIT programme is, more specifically, focussed on evaluating existing legislation. The REFIT programme began in 2010 when the European Commission announced that it would be reviewing EU legislation in selected policy fields through ‘fitness checks’ in order to keep current regulation ‘fit for purpose’. This included identifying ‘excessive regulatory burdens, overlaps, gaps, inconsistencies and/or obsolete measures which may have appeared over time. Pilot exercises began in 2010 in four areas: employment and social policy, environment, transport and industrial policy.’ In employment and social policy, the fitness check exercise was launched in the area of informing and consulting workers on the national level, with the evaluation of three Directives. The Commission then included Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) in the REFIT Programme. The third area evaluated was the Written Statement Directive. The paper analyses the REFIT as applied to the social field, through an evaluation of the REFIT Programme in the three areas where fitness checks have already been carried out. Our main conclusion is that the REFIT Programme has certainly legitimised the European Commission’s lack of action and has fulfilled its social agenda. However, at the end of the evaluation programmes, the REFIT has not yet led to deregulation. On the contrary, some gaps have been identified which have led the Commission to begin a legislative review process.

France's employment crisis has heavily influenced the direction of recent labour law reforms, the aim of which is to improve employment figures. This is particularly true of the recent proposal, commonly referred to as the 'El Khomri Law', after the French Minister of Labour, or as the 'Labour Act' ('la loi travail'), which faces strong opposition and a social movement of significant magnitude. The Labour Act shows the endorsement by the French government of the European dogma and rhetoric where the regulation of the Labour Market is designated as responsible for the employment crisis and the level of unemployment. It is not in itself a 'revolution' and it is in line with the previous reforms. It certainly adds new complexities. The results are an increasing trend towards more flexible working conditions, with these new flexibilities often not combined with any new securities for workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dismissal law protects those who are sometimes referred to as ‘insiders’, that is, workers whose employment is well protected. As a rule, there are four aspects to this protection. First, the law requires that there has to be good reason for any termination of the employment contract by the employer. Second, the termination is subject to procedural constraints ensuring that the reason for the dismissal is stated and that worker representatives, as provided for under the national system, are involved. Third, if the employer's action leads, in fact, to loss of employment, financial compensation must be paid. Finally, in the event of dismissal, workers must have access to a judicial body (or some other independent authority) which will scrutinise the employer's reason for the dismissal and, if the dismissal is found to be unfair, sanction the employer. To differing degrees, it is these four elements which are now under challenge.

The articles of this special issue ‘Which securities for workers in times of crisis?’ deal with the reactions of national labour law in response to the ongoing economic crisis. Four conventional wisdoms are challenged. A first conventional wisdom is to present the legal answers to the ongoing economic crisis as contingent by nature – in other words, existing only in response to, and during times of, crisis. The second wisdom concerns the functioning of labour markets and their division into two groups: insiders and outsiders. The third wisdom is that fundamental social rights could play an active role in defining new securities for workers. Finally, the fourth conventional wisdom concerns the myth of flexicurity. We ask whether it is now time to abandon the flexicurity concept since its security side has been left dormant.

We report on a three‐generation family affected with an osteochondrodysplasia transmitted as an autosomal dominant trait. The phenotype consists of short humerus, curved radius with accessory ossification centre at the proximal third of ulna, variable short stature and brachydactyly, and has not been reported to the best of our knowledge. The brachydactyly falls into the brachydactyly A1 category (especially short 2nd, 4th, and 5th middle phalanges). A unique feature in one family member is triphalangeal thumbs. Vertebrae are normal. Mental development is normal and deafness is seen in some of the family members. A mutation was excluded by sequencing the entire coding regions of the IHHgene encoding the Indian Hedgehog protein and the GDF5gene. This condition is a novel chondrodyplasia phenotype or possibly one end of the spectrum of the brachydactyly A1. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

AbstractObjective:One of the concerns of prenatal diagnosis is to find sensitive markers to screen for chromosome abnormalities, such as serum assays or nuchal translucency (NT). This study reports our experience with NT measurement during the first trimester of pregnancy. Materials:The study was performed prospectively on 252 fetuses with either NT ≥3 mm or cystic hygroma. Results:We observed 50 abnormal karyotypes, i.e. 19.8%. The incidence of chromosome abnormalities increased with increasing maternal age and increasing NT thickness. For the 202 fetuses with normal karyotypes, outcome was unfavourable in 32 cases: 23 elective terminations of pregnancy, 8 spontaneous abortions and 1 neonatal death. Outcome was favourable in 141 cases. Twenty-nine pregnancies were lost to follow-up. Conclusion:Measurement of NT at 12 weeks’ gestation seems to be a good marker for chromosome abnormalities. When the karyotype is normal, the pregnancy outcome remains correlated with the degree of NT thickness. The finding of NT >3 mm between 10 and 14 weeks’ gestation dictates rigorous ultrasound monitoring and caution when predicting pregnancy outcome.Copyright © 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel

AbstractSchizencephaly is a neuronal migration anomaly characterized by gray matter lined clefts extending from the ventricle to the cortical surface leading to specific lesions, well demonstrated by imaging. The lips of the clefts can be fused or separated. Prognosis is related to the extend of the involved cortex. Both genetic and acquired factors can be responsible for this pathology. Three cases of antenatal diagnosed open schizencephaly are reported. Two cases are unilateral and one is bilateral. A cerebral anomaly has been detected in all cases by routine ultrasonography (US) revealing a ventricular dilatation with cortical associated abnormalities. Prenatal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) permitted the diagnosis in the 3 cases. All cases had led to abortion because of the importance of the cortical defect. The aim of this report is to point out the importance of fetal MRI in the diagnosis of migration disorder and to discuss the medical implications. Indeed, MRI is better suited than US for the prenatal diagnosis of schizencephaly, being able to detect normal and abnormal brain cellular migration, especially with fast imaging (HASTE sequences). With its multiplanar imaging capability, MRI demonstrates the cleft extending from the pial surface to the ventricular ependyma and thus provides characteristic diagnosis of this disorder. Moreover, ventricular dilatation, a frequent anomaly detected by US should be completed with MRI in order to research a neuronal migration disorder.Copyright © 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel

AbstractCytomegalovirus is the most common cause of congenital viral infection. In utero this infection is usually suspected on the basis of ultrasound findings. We present a case in which routine ultrasound examination demonstrated a decrease in fetal cephalic dimensions at 32 weeks’ gestation in an asymptomatic patient. Transvaginal ultrasound revealed echogenic vessels in the thalami and lesions in the subependymal region. Suspected diagnosis of fetal cytomegalovirus infection was confirmed by positive titers of anti-cytomegalovirus-IgM antibodies in fetal blood and amniotic-fluid PCR studies. Fetal cerebral MRI demonstrated parenchymal atrophy and polymicrogyria. The parents decided to terminate the pregnancy, and necropsy confirmed the diagnosis. Suspicion of CMV fetal infection should prompt transvaginal ultrasound and fetal brain MRI.Copyright © 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel

La grossesse extra-amniotique (GEA) est une forme rare de rupture prématurée des membranes. Elle consiste en la rupture élective de l’amnios avant son accolement au chorion. Il s’agit d’un diagnostic rétrospectif anatomopathologique. Seulement quelques cas sont décrits dans la littérature.

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