EFN UPDATE - JULY 2010

News from the EU

 

Commission encourages vocational education and training

On 9 June 2010, the European Commission presented its new vision for the future of vocational education and training. The plans adopted by the Commission, building on the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart and inclusive growth, outline several possible ways to give vocational education and training a new impetus: Ensure access to training and qualifications is flexible and open at all stages of life; Promote mobility to make it easier to gain experience abroad, or in a different sector of the economy; Ensure the highest possible quality of education and training; Provide more opportunities for disadvantaged groups such as school drop-outs, the low-skilled and unemployed, people with migrant backgrounds and the disabled; and Nurture creative, innovative and entrepreneurial thinking in students. With this plan the European Commission wants to encourage more people to take up vocational education, to improve the quality of the training on offer, and to make it easier to move between jobs and countries. The EU ministers are expected to discuss and adopt the plan in the second half of this year.

Structural Funds

To counter the economic crisis the Council of the European Union adopted, on 3 June 2010, a regulation facilitating access to the EU Structural Funds, with the objective of guaranteeing the liquidity of the worst affected EU Member States in the crisis, of improving the absorption of the funds with regard to certain operational programmes, and of simplifying the structural funds' management rules. In order to tackle cash flow problems, five member states (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary and Romania) will receive additional advance payments, du during the next three years, for an amount totalling 775 million Euros, by increasing the advance payments from the European Social Fund by 4% and from the Cohesion Fund by 2%.

 

Within this context of Structural Funds, the EFN participated in the launch of the Committee of the Regions Technical Platform on health focussing on Structural funds investments for health that took place in Brussels on 11 June 2010. Organised by the Committee of the Regions, DG SANCO and Health Cluster Net, in cooperation with DG REGIO and DG EMPL, the meeting brought together regions and stakeholders involved in the use of EU structural funds, in order to share good practices in using the Structural Funds for health. There is a growing recognition of the importance of sustainable regional development and the contribution of health to achieving it. This means health development leading to growth in social and human capital. The EU health strategy objectives could be effectively implemented by involving regions in areas such as health promotion, sustainable health workforce, health inequalities and health investments from the EU Structural Funds.

EU Call for Proposals - Working Conditions

The European Commission has published a Call for Proposals under the PROGRESS programme related to working conditions “Restructuring, well-being at work and financial participation” (Reference number: VP/2010/013). Three sub-programmes have been defined for this call: improvement of expertise in restructuring; better understanding of health and well-being at work during change; promoting the financial participation of workers. The deadline for the submission of applications is as follows: 30 July 2010 for activities commencing no earlier than 22 November 2010 and no later than 22 December 2010.

Council Conclusions on Active Ageing

Taking into account the significant demographic changes Europe is facing, the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council adopted, on 7 June 2010, conclusions on active ageing, calling on the EU Member States and the European Commission to develop common principles for active ageing; to develop and conduct activities for raising awareness of the importance of active ageing and the need to mobilise the full potential of older people for their own and society’s benefit; to use all the possibilities offered by the Open Method of Coordination, the Employment Strategy and other Community instruments and programmes, including the financial support of Structural Funds, to foster active ageing; to use existing advisory and policy committees to maintain active ageing high on the EU's and Member States' policy agenda.