United Nations Climate Change Conference 2007

A lot of things have been heard about the UN Climate Change Conference which was held in Bali the other day. The truth is that after endless negotiations there was a consensus on certain protective measures, but not all nations were actually committed to following them...

For more information you may visit http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/bali_07.htm.

Anyway, according to the lyrics of a famous song, we can't go on pretending day by day that someone, somewhere will soon make a change...

Treaty of Lisbon

Europe is not the same place it was 50 years ago, and nor is the rest of the world.
In a constantly changing, ever more interconnected world, Europe is grappling with new issues: globalisation, demographic shifts, climate change, the need for sustainable energy sources and new security threats. These are the challenges facing Europe in the 21st century.
Borders count for very little in the light of these challenges. The EU countries cannot meet them alone. But acting as one, Europe can deliver results and respond to the concerns of the public. For this, Europe needs to modernise. The EU has recently expanded from 15 to 27 members; it needs effective, coherent tools so it can function properly and respond to the rapid changes in the world. That means rethinking some of the ground rules for working together.
The treaty signed in Lisbon on 13 December 2007 sets out to do just that. When European leaders reached agreement on the new rules, they were thinking of the political, economic and social changes going on, and the need to live up to the hopes and expectations of the European public. The Treaty of Lisbon will define what the EU can and cannot do, and what means it can use. It will alter the structure of the EU’s institutions and how they work. As a result, the EU will be more democratic and its core values will be better served.
This new treaty is the result of negotiations between EU member countries in an intergovernmental conference, in which the Commission and Parliament were also involved. The treaty will not apply until and unless it is ratified by each of the EU’s 27 members. It is up to each country to choose the procedure for ratification, in line with its own national constitution.
The target date for ratification set by member governments is 1 January 2009 – some months before the elections to the European Parliament.

Have a Merry Christmas and may the spirit of love touch the hearts of all people...

Mid-term exam news

I would like to inform you that your mid-term exam papers have already been corrected. Your grades have been e-mailed to you and they will also be pinned on TEI's bulletin board on Monday. In my opinion, most of you could have done better...

One woman in ten aged 25-54 in the EU27 is inactive due to family responsibilities!

Women outside the labour force in 2006 One woman in ten aged 25-54 in the EU27 is inactive due to family responsibilities Large variations between Member States
The inactivity rate1 of women aged between 25 and 54 years was 23.6% in 2006 in the EU27, compared with 8.1% for men. This period is the main working age, and also the age when families are founded and children are raised. The main single reason for prime-aged women to be outside the labour force is therefore family responsibilities2. Among prime-aged women in the EU27 in 2006, 10.2% stated they were inactive due to family responsibilities, almost half of all inactive women of this age.
These data come from a report3 issued by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, focusing on people outside the labour force.
Between 2% of prime-aged women in the United Kingdom, Sweden and Denmark and 46% in Malta inactive due to family responsibilities
In the EU27 in 2006, the lowest inactivity rates for women aged 25-54 were found in Slovenia (13.0%), Sweden (13.7%), Estonia (14.3%), Denmark and Finland (14.6%), while Malta (58.9%), Italy (35.7%), Greece (30.9%) and Ireland (29.5%) had the highest.
Among prime-aged women, the percentage inactive due to family responsibilities varied greatly between Member States: the United Kingdom (1.9%) had the lowest percentage, followed by Sweden (2.1%) and Denmark (2.3%). At the other end of the scale, Malta (45.9%), followed by Ireland (23.1%) and Luxembourg (21.7%) had the highest rates.
Around 60% of young women outside the labour force
Education and retirement explain the higher inactivity rates observed at either end of the age scale. For women aged 15-24, the inactivity rate was 59.4% in the EU27, compared with 52.5% for men. Female inactivity rates within this age group ranged from 30.7% in Denmark, 31.6% in the Netherlands and 39.2% in Finland to 76.9% in Lithuania, 76.6% in Hungary and 75.0% in Luxembourg.
For women aged 55-64, the rate was 62.9% in the EU27 in 2006, compared with 43.8% for men. The lowest rates were recorded in Sweden (30.4%), Estonia (39.5%) and Finland (42.8%) and the highest in Malta (88.4%), Poland (79.7%) and Slovakia (79.1%).

For more information about statistical data all over EU member states check http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=STAT/07/169&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

Mr. Stylianidis' interview about school occupations and other current issues

The minister of Education and Religious Affairs talked about the government's intentions as far as school occupations are concerned. In brief, he stated that strict measures are to be taken against those who destroy public property, while he also discussed future plans about private and state tertiary level education and

(source: alfavita.gr-greek version)

Sept. 2007 Eurobarometer: Health in the EU

It would be very interesting to have a look at the opinions of EU citizens on health issues. To be more specific, this report examines the following themes in turn:
• The overall state of Europeans’ health, and long-term illness
• The effects of some health problems on daily life
• The proportion of Europeans taking health preventive measures (check-ups, scans and tests)
• Specific health issues - Namely blood pressure, cholesterol and Hormone Replacement therapy for women.

World AIDS Day – As important as ever to remain vigilant and increase awareness, the Commission notes

AIDS has already claimed the lives of more than 25 million people throughout the world, while an estimated 33.2 million live with HIV – alarming numbers highlighting the need to remain vigilant vis-à-vis one of the most destructive epidemics in recorded history.

To mark World AIDS Day, commemorated every year on December 1, Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou has invited European Health Ministers to join him in a pan-European effort to spread common messages on prevention and increasing the awareness and knowledge about HIV/AIDS among young Europeans. He encouraged ministers to visit schools and 11 countries agreed to participate in this initiative. Ministers will be visiting schools in their countries today and in the days to come. The Commissioner himself is today visiting a high school in Cyprus, where he plans to present a new TV-spot promoting the use of condoms and safer sex and have a chat with teenage students on HIV/AIDS.
"We must remain vigilant and must keep in mind the fact that HIV/AIDS is still one of the biggest preventable killers world-wide,” Commissioner Kyprianou said. "Improved knowledge, awareness and information are essential tools that young people must acquire and it is our responsibility to provide them with all necessary information and guidance. Prevention remains the best cure”
Focus on youth
The ministerial visits fall within the context of a plan to focus this year’s activities on youth in schools. A very timely intervention indeed as recent reports from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) point to the fact that high-risk sexual behaviour is once again on the rise among young people throughout Europe. So are infection rates. Between 1998 and 2005, the number of new HIV diagnoses in men and women infected through heterosexual contact and in men infected through sex with men (MSM) doubled.
Furthermore, the 2006 Eurobarometer survey on AIDS prevention revealed an astonishing lack of basic knowledge on certain facts regarding HIV and AIDS. About 54% of young people in the old Member States (EU15) were of the opinion that one could contract HIV by drinking from the same glass as someone infected with the virus. This highlights the need to scale up awareness and to invest further in prevention efforts. It further demonstrates that we have no reason to sit back and forget about this "old" disease. The young Europeans of today did not follow the successful prevention campaigns of the late ‘80s. European societies have to take responsibility and provide young people with essential information on HIV and AIDS.
Targeting school students and bringing them closer to the problems around HIV transmission and other important issues related to HIV/AIDS is a means of addressing the problem of high-risk sexual behaviour. By making this a Europe-wide initiative, the Commission wants to amplify awareness messages, and to create a positive, resonant impact on a European level.