EPSCO Council conclusions (15/10/2013)

15/10 – The main agreements at the latest EPSCO Council Conclusions were:
  • No progress on the posting of workers directive. Still no agreement on this important Directive that would try to ensure a basic package of social rights to workers posted abroad within the internal market.
  • Youth Guarantee: there was a review of progress, and a request to all MS to work quickly to spend the 6 million allocated including through ESF underspend.
  • Declaration of the European Alliance for Apprenticeships launched in July.
  • First debate on the Commission’s Communication on the Social Dimension of the EMU – cautious welcome, underlining the importance of coherence of fiscal, economic and social policies, with a first step in the establishment of the social scoreboard and new social indicators in the MIP, Alter procedure. However the Council rejected any automatic trigger of Recommendations if thresholds were breached. A further discussion will take place in the December Council.
  • Evaluation of the 2013 European Semester (including NRPs and CSRs). Concerns still about the short timescale, and confirming the need to involve social partners, and to confirm the key role of the EPSCO in any discussions/ recommendations which have an impact on employment or social policy.
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EAPN meets with civil-society organisations from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Turkey

 

 
15/10 – EAPN hosted a group of civil-society representatives from Bosnia and Herzegovina, part of the Citizens for Europe initiative. The meeting focused on understanding EAPN’s structure, internal governance, models of structuring national anti poverty networks, and engagement of members in following the Europe 2020 strategy and the European policy-making process.

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EAPN Spain news

EAPN Speaks in Social Europe? NEUJOBS ‘brainstorming’ workshop

07/10 – Sian Jones, EAPN Policy coordinator, intervened in Whither the Social Europe? 2nd NEUJOBS ‘brainstorming’ workshop at CEPS in Brussels, on the results of key research results from the NEUJOBs project funded through FP7. Key themes discussed included social Europe in the aftermath of the crisis, social services of general interest, emerging social  dilemmas and longer term challenges.

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EAPN participates in Human Inner Design Conference: Shaping a new role for European Citizens and Institutions in Time of Change

06/11 – EAPN participated in  a foreward-looking conference in the European Parliament, organized by Fondazione Patrizio Paoletti together with the Learning for Well-Being Alliance and Eurochild. The conference aimed to identify new opportunities to promote learning for well being for children and adults: a better understanding of how people work (their interior world) and to promote a change in education/training systems to encourage new skills which can help people to better manage change,  create pro-active and pro-social attitudes.  

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