The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), has adopted an opinion supporting the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the open labour market. The EESC is calling for the promotion of measures and policies that would buttress these efforts, including the setup of a joint fund between Member States.
Volunteering activities will get a major boost in 2024 thanks to a new funding opportunity that the Commission launched today. A new call for proposals under the European Solidarity Corps, covering 2024, will support young people across the EU and beyond who wish to engage in solidarity activities. Areas covered range from social inclusion actions to helping people with fewer opportunities, contributing to the green and digital transitions, democratic participation
The aim of this directive is to ensure equal access to special conditions or preferential treatment, such as reduced or zero entry fees, priority access, assistance and reserved parking spaces provided to persons with disabilities during short stays across the EU. This includes cultural and leisure events, sports and beach facilities and transport services.
Iliana Ivanova, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth awarded the prizes in Marseille during a ceremony co-hosted by the Aix-Marseille Provence Métropole, winner of iCapital 2022. Among others, the mayors from the winning cities, members of the European Parliament, Mayor of Haarlem (Rising Innovative city winner 2022) and innovation stakeholders from France and different African countries attended the ceremony.
After technical discussions within the Council, ministers for employment and social affairs reached a political agreement on the recommendation on 9 October 2023. After legal-linguistic revision, the recommendation was adopted today and will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
EU Ministers agreed the Council’s position on the directive establishing the European disability card and the European parking card for persons with disabilities. The directive will facilitate the free movement of persons with disabilities in the Union, by ensuring equal access to special conditions and preferential treatment for persons with disabilities during short stays, such as reduced or zero entry fees, priority access, assistance and reserved parking spaces.
Education ministers started their meeting by approving conclusions on the contribution of education and training to strengthening common European values and democratic citizenship. The protection of the values that we share as Europeans and the importance of democratic citizenship are the very backbone of our societies and an utmost priority for the Spanish presidency. Today, we reaffirm the role of education in shaping active, engaged and creative citizens.
Today, the Council approved conclusions on enhancing the cultural and creative dimension of the European video games sector. The video games sector is an integral part of the ecosystem of cultural and creative industries. It interacts with other sectors and has great potential to transmit cultural content and highlight the value of the richness of European creation, heritage and history.
Today, the Council approved conclusions on women and equality in the field of sport. The conclusions emphasise the importance of access to a safe, inclusive and equal playing field, free from any form of inequality, discrimination or violence. Despite the progress made so far, women still participate much less in sport and physical activity than men, largely due to sociocultural barriers. However, 8 in 10 Europeans believe that female role
To build a fair and resilient society that leaves no region or individual behind, the Commission launched the Talent Booster Mechanism in 2023. The Mechanism is an eight-pillar initiative to support regions in training, retaining, and attracting people with the necessary skills to mitigate the impact of the demographic transition. The new Platform will help to deliver on these objectives and will act as a hub for collaboration and communication.
Today, the Commission has launched the 2024 European Semester cycle of economic policy coordination. The Autumn package draws on the Autumn 2023 Economic Forecast which showed that the EU economy continues to be resilient in the face of the multiple shocks endured in recent years, but that it has lost growth momentum in 2023 in a context of high inflation and tighter financing conditions, with only a moderate uptick in
In 2021–2022, during the first years of the new EU Gender Action Plan (GAP III), the European Union committed €22.4 billion to contribute to building a more gender-equal world, finds a joint mid-term report by the European Commission and the European External Action Service on the implementation of the GAP III just published.
The set of conclusions, unanimously approved by EU agriculture ministers, recognises the key contributions made by rural areas to the economic strength of the EU, the green and digital transitions, and climate action. Additionally, the conclusions highlight the role of rural areas in ensuring sustainability and food security, and in preserving the cultural heritage of local communities.
Women in the European Union continue to earn less than men with the average gender pay gap in the EU standing at 13%. This means that for every €1 a man earns, a women will make only €0.87. Equal Pay Day marks the date that symbolises how many extra days women must work until the end of the year to earn what men earned in the same year. This year
A new Eurobarometer survey released today finds that skills shortages are one of the most serious problems for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the EU. The challenge of skills shortages has grown over the years and now encompasses all EU Member States and all sectors of the economy.
The Council approved conclusions on EU statistics that welcome progress made on keeping comparable and reliable statistics for better policy-making and provide guidance for further work. The conclusions welcome the progress reached on information requirements in the Economic and Monetary Union and on the quality of statistics for the Macroeconomic Imbalances Procedure and the Stability and Growth Pact.
The Council presidency, the European Central Bank and the European Commission met European social partners on 8 November 2023 to discuss recent developments of the economic situation, as well as a thematic topic chosen by the presidency, “upskilling and reskilling needs for the green and digital transition”.
The aim of the Arrangement is to share each other’s satellite Earth Observation data on the basis of reciprocity. This Arrangement will provide mutual benefits. On the one hand, the National Commission on Space Activities of Argentina intends to provide end-users in Argentina with a facilitated and simplified access to data from Copernicus. On the other hand, Copernicus services deliver near-real-time data to users around the world through satellite and
The organisers of the ‘EU Live Bus Stop Info’ initiative call for the integration of QR codes at bus stops across the EU Member States, to allow passengers to access real-time information about schedules, routes, delays and updates. The initiative seeks to contribute to greener cities by encouraging bus travel, reducing congestion and emissions.
As a global space power, the European Union already has several flagship programmes that contribute to the objective of ensuring that Europeans can benefit from the economic and social advantages of space in their activities and daily lives. The European Space Programme is a pioneer and world benchmark in Earth observation, satellite navigation, connectivity, space research and innovation.
In these difficult times, marred by wars, conflict and terrorist acts, we recall and praise the essential role played by journalists and media workers in fighting for the truth and for human rights. Journalists contribute to counter disinformation and hate speech and to keep checks and balances on governments and public institutions. They shed light on war crimes and human rights violations, sometimes at the risk of their own lives.
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