Edition: May 1999

European Commission for more transparency? – Confidential information reaches public on shady channels

Retirement of the Commission

Time and again we hear about plans to gain more transparency in regard of the EU institutions. However, yet it is still useful, even if difficult at times, to read the ‘secret papers‘. Fortunately, we could open a channel by which three important documents reached us. Even if confidential we could fortunately get access to these highly discrete documents. We will publish them in this and the following issues.

The first one is concerned with the retirement of the European Commission – please find the text of the confidential message below – we just received it before the launch on the net and thus it is left in its original format:

The verbatim report of the last meeting of the European Commission has leaked to the press. Here is a small part of that historic meeting:

Van Miert (talking to Cresson): You will resign you bitch, Verdomme, or I'll make you swallow your new teeth one by one.

Cresson: I will not sink alone (famous last words).

Pinheiro: My brother-in-law has invited me to a golf game tomorrow, could we please hurry up ?

Bangeman (talking to Santer): Get down from that window, you idiot, you will hurt yourself.

Marin: I'm clean, clean, clean, clean, oh so clean, clean, clean, clean.

Sir Leon Brittan: (Talking to himself) Tony loves me.

Sir Leon Brittan:(Talking to Neil Kinnock) Tony loves you, too.

Papoutsis: What is going on here? Who is going to resign? Who the hell is Santer?

Schroeder (on the phone): Calm down Jacques. It is not that bad. Imagine that I had to deal with Lafontaine all my life. And now that I got rid of him he wants to become blockquotesident of the Commission. Nobody thinks about me any more...

Bonino: My olda mother would not understand this....

Flynn:(silently staring the ceiling for hours)....(nothing)

Bjerregaard: (murmuring to herself) Great stuff for Diary of a Commissioner (Part II)......

And then they resigned...

For a Social Europe

Conference of the International Council on Socoial Welfare – The European Region

The said conference takes place in Lille, France from 23 – 25 September 1999. At the dawn of the new millennium the meeting will look back to have a better view on the current position as the basis for future work.

Various workshops will mix nationals from different European countries, those with an interest in social politics, reblockquotesentatives of government of international public services and NGOs, to enable in-depth discussions on key issues for which we need to find new solutions; solutions that will take into account the various changes which are having such a strong influence in today’s society.

Recommendations for action will be formulated in these sessions.

The symposium will end with a panel discussion. This will provide an opportunity for several key players in the field of social cohesion to blockquotesent their vision of how we can continue to promote the development of social welfare and the systems and infrastructure in Europe to support that.

Contact: Marjaliisa Kauppinen. blockquotesident of the ICSW European Region. C/o STAKES. National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health. Siltasaarenkatu 18. P.O.box 220. FIN – 00531 Helsinki. Finland. Ph: +358.9.39672020. Telecopie: +358.9.39672421. e-mail: marjak@stakes.fi

See as well: http://www.icsw.org

National Observatory for children and Youth in Greece

According to EURONET, the European Children’s Network, two major initiatives at policy level were taken which target the strengthening of the position of children and youth at national level in Greece. The first is the launching of a national Observatory for Children and Youth.

The mission of the Observatory is as follows:

• Research into the situation and challenges for social and political intervention;
• Evaluation of existing laws;
• Evaluation of the implementation of these laws and the problems occurring in this regard;
• A data bank on statistical, legal and bibliographical information;
• Compiling information about the various statutory and non-statutory actors in the field;
• Co-operation with the involved actors in drafting an Action Programme for Youth.

An Interministerial Committee on Youth is the second initiative. It is appointed by the Prime Minister and comprises the ministries for Education, Health and Welfare, Development, Agriculture, Labour and Social Security, Culture, General Secretariat for Youth. The said Committee is ready to co-operate as well with respective NGOs working in the field.

Of course, there is good reason in most of the EU member states to take this as suggestion to overcome their own splintered policies. The often described necessity of multidimensionality (an issue in particular in many European programmes in whichever social regard) could come to a more pronounced agenda of policy making instead of being left solely to those working on the spot. Furthermore, it is worthwhile to consider multidimensional approaches in the sense of crossing borders between departments, ministries etc. rather than to create ever new committees etc. with special tasks aside and ‘over’ the existing structures: The problem often occurs that these special task forces which are not integrated into the existing system are without real impact

What? Me? A Racist?

A Cartoon under the title What? Me? A Racist? (Luxembourg: Office of official Publications of the European Communities, 1998; contact the European Commission Representations in your respective country) points in a somewhat funny way on the problem – funny insofar that it really shows how ridiculous it is and how close it is interwoven with other prejudices like those concerning people with special needs, sex, religion, age etc.

On a different level three other documents provide information on the issue of racism:

• Youth against Racism: Effective means of combating racism, xenophobia and anti-semitism among young people – Seminar report
• European Year Against Racism: Projects in Practice
• European Year Against Racism: Directory of projects

all published in the Employment & Social Affairs series (both: Luxembourg: Office of official Publications of the European Communities, 1998).

They are edited from the European Commission and might be of great use in developing concrete strategies against racism.

EMU and Social Consequences

Two comprehensive studies on the social consequences of the European Monetary Union have recently been published. As Literature Surveys they contain a whole lot of references, showing the whole range of the debate. The discussion, which took recently place on the issues in question is frankly reported and one gets a good insight of the wide range of arguments.

• Observatoire social européen: Economic and Monetary Union, Employment, Social Conditions and Social Benefits. A Literature Survey.
• Keith Sisson et.al.: EMU and the Implications for Industrial Relations. A Select Bibliographic Review

Contact: European Foundation for the Improvement for the Living and Working Conditions. Wyattville Road. Loughlinstown. Co. Dublin. Ireland. Ph.: +353.(0)21.2043100. Telecopie: +353.(0)1.2826456. e-mail: postmaster@eurofound.ie)

Press release: Caring for Children and Older people.

A Comparison of European Policies and Practices

How are children and older people cared for in Europe? Two new reports published by the Danish National Institute of Social Research compare the development of care schemes in Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, England, Germany and France over the last 15 years. The reports show that the supply of services for both children and older people has never been higher - but several of the countries have had to change previous principles for allocation and provision of care benefits.

Day care a top priority in Denmark

All seven countries are characterised by the fact that the number of pre-school children in day care has never been as high - also in the Nordic countries, where the numbers were high already 15 years ago. Denmark is topping when looking at the share of children in day care. Also in Sweden, many children are in day care. Somewhat surprisingly, however, France is levelling with the Nordic countries. Nevertheless, good coverage of day care for small children is especially characteristic for the Nordic countries. In the Netherlands, Germany, England it is more common for children to join day care from the age of 3-4 years, when they start in nursery education.

However...less favourable possibilities for parental leave

On the other hand, Denmark is behind in offering parents favourable leave possibilities - at least when comparing with our Nordic neighbours. The Danish leave period and leave benefit are considerably lower than in Finland, where the parents can stay at home with a reasonable high leave benefit, until the child reach the age of three. Sweden is offering similar attractive possibilities for parental leave with a period of 64 weeks, including a relative high benefit. Also other countries than the Nordic ones offer quite reasonable possibilities for leave. In Germany and France, the parents can stay at home for three years, and especially France offers a high leave benefit. In Holland and especially England, parents are offered only short periods of leave with low leave benefits.

Fewer older people in institutional care homes

All countries in the survey have followed a de-institutionalisation policy thereby aiming at domiciliary care and consequently, supporting older people in remaining in their home in order to postpone institutional care for as long as possible. Therefore, the extent of the institutional care has decreased, and today it covers 3-5% of the older people above 65 years of age with the exemption of the Netherlands, where almost one in ten live in a nursing home. As replacement for the institutional care, most of the countries have improved the sheltered housing facilities.

The number of older people receiving home help is highest in Denmark

However, it is only in Denmark that an increase in home help recipients has taken place correspondingly. Today, Denmark holds the highest share of older people receiving home help. Almost every fourth received home care in 1996. Sweden has implemented cuts in the visitation for home help, and it is now only every sixth elderly who receive home help. Finland has likewise implemented cuts in the home help, whereas in Germany a slightly higher number of older people receive home help. Additionally, most of the countries have intensified care, thus older people receive more hours of care. Many older people, who previously were taken care of in a nursing home now receive in-home services and today''s home help is directed towards this group of older people.

It is becoming more difficult to have services allocated

In many cases the increased supply of care services has been followed up by stricter admission criteria, e.g. children of unemployed parents are rarely offered a day care place in Sweden, and in many other countries the resources of the family are now emphasised in the allocation of home care. At times, the quality of care has also been influenced negatively by the expansion. Many countries have chosen to extend the supply of day care by signing up more children and the number of staff has not increased correspondingly. It is also common for the countries that many municipalities cut the cleaning and shopping services in order to offer personal care to more older people.

Individually adapted services

On the other hand, there is a tendency that individual needs are taken into consideration to a higher extent than previously, and that the services are more flexible today. Today?s welfare regime emphasises the role of the care user. At the same time, it has become more common to issue guaranties for provision of services such as day care guaranties for children up till a certain age.

User payment covers a bigger share of the total amount of expenditure

The use of care services does not only concern the services offered to the user, but also whether the individual user can afford them. More countries have increased the user payment share, which may entail cases where the user has to say no to a service due to financial reasons. In this respect, Denmark is the only country which offers free home help.

More a welfare mix

The development in care services has also entailed a greater mix in who deliver and finance the services. Today, countries which previously did only have limited public based care system have implemented increased public financing or provision of services. Similarly, countries with typically public based care services, as the Nordic countries, have opened up to market based services or services delivered by voluntary organisations. Likewise, a number of cash benefits has been introduced, partly compensating family members, if they take care of children or older people. Thus, it reflects a tendency that the state today functions as the "enabling factor", securing other actors a place in the welfare mix through financing and regulation of their services. In this way, the change in the structure of care systems has obviously had a positive effect on those systems which have succeeded creating alternatives to the previous monopoly of the public sector. In reality, however, users of services seldom experience that they have a real choice of service provider.

Models of care

Rather than developing in the same direction the individual countries seem to develop their social care services in line with their own specific welfare model.

The Nordic countries which often are ascribed good public services appear similar in respect to the structure of the welfare system, however their strategy vary whether to emphasise cash benefits or services, and to what extent the family should be involved. However, all three countries offer an abundant level of services for children and older people. Holland and England share similar features in offering a large supply of public services to older people, whereas child care schemes are less developed and both countries have a mix of cash benefits and social services. In France, day care schemes for older children are highly developed, while the care for older people is still limited. The supply consists mainly of social services. In Germany, the importance of cash benefits is increasing, especially since the care insurance schemes were introduced, however, the supply of public care for children and older people is limited.

Information on the survey

The survey looks at the development of care services in the period 1982-96 and includes both care services and cash benefits. The Danish National Institute of Social Research has financed the survey consisting of an English report with a comparative chapter and seven countries studies, and a Danish report with a comparative chapter and seven municipality studies.

Tine Rostgaard and Torben Fridberg: Caring for Children and Older people - A Comparison of European Policies and Practices. Social Security in Europe 6. The Danish National Institute of Social Research 98:20. ISBN 87-7487-608-2. 597 p. Dkk. 310,00.

Yderligere oplysninger om undersøgelsen kan fås ved henvendelse til Tine Rostgaard, Socialforskningsinstituttet, Herluf Trolles Gade 11, 1052 København K. Telefon 3348 0845, telefax 3348 0833, e-mail tr@sfi.dk

Care for the elderly and case management

1999 is the International Year for Older Persons, proclaimed by the United Nations already in 1992. ( http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/iyop/index.shtmll) The German Federal Ministry for Family affairs, Senior Citizens, Women, and Youth took this as opportunity to launch a project under the title The Co-ordination of Complex Assistance for the Elderly: Case management in Various National Elderly Assistance Systems. The project is co-ordinated by the ISG Sozialforschung und Gesellschaftspolitik GmbH, Cologne. As a working paper states, the objective of the co-opertaion project is to examine individual Case Management offices at the national level and to work out structural models for Case Management at the international level. The evaluation of case management projects is undertaken in the UK, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria, Italy, Spain, Israel, and Ireland. Results will be available at the beginning of the year 2000 and will be presented on an international expert meeting

Organisations, Initiatives and Services in the Social Field – an Engine for Social Policy in Europe

Under the auspices of the German Presidency of the Council of the European Union a conference will be held from May 19^th to May 21^st in Aachen. The gathering is organised under the joint aegis of the Federal Ministry for Family affairs, Senior Citizens, Women, and Youth, the European Commission, and the Federal Organisation of Non Governmental Social Welfare Associations (BAGFW). According to the Federal Ministry the conference under the title Organisations, Initiatives and Services in the Social Field – an Engine for Social Policy in Europe ‘will be principally devoted to subjects relating to social development in the EU against the background of the changes in the scope for action created by the Treaty of Amsterdam. Three parallel workshops will permit the discussion of basic national and EU conditions as well as development possibilities, quality of services, and the prospects for European co-operation in the work of social organisations, social initiatives and services. Alongside the representatives of EU institutions, it is primarily experts from the fields of social and welfare work, selected representatives from the research field, and people responsible for projects drawn from numerous European countries.’

This conference, thoroughly in conjunction with last years conference in Frankfurt on Social Services for All (xyz link to two contributions in the newsletter, previous editions), shows an important and valuable shift in the orientation on (European) social policy. Instead of focusing solely on social transfers and social insurance systems social services and original matters of social work are tabled as issues of common concern. Moreover, the NGOs as actors in the welfare mix are explicitly mentioned and their role and function is seen as a matter for further and explicit debate. As important and to be welcomed this is, indeed, we should accompany the debate vigilantly. Besides the positive impact this can have on a broader (and thus more realistic) understanding of ‘the social’ we have to mention our concern if the debate is used for a shift away from the performance of material security and statutory responsibility.

Employment guidelines

The employment guidelines 1998 – the first of their kind after the Luxembourg employment summit – had been on the agenda of critics for many times. The noncommittal formulation of the National Action Plans as the implementation of the guidelines in the member states and, in particular, the half-hearted orientation on equal opportunities had been stated even by the Commissions evaluation ( http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg05/empl&esf/naps/reporten.pdf)

Meanwhile the guidelines for 1999 had been issued by the Council ( http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg05/empl&esf/empl99/guide_en.htm)

EAPN, the European Anti-Poverty Network made a brief and valuable contribution under the title An examination of the employment guidelines 1998 and 1999. EAPN Position. It states ‘A general remark concerning all the guidelines and their implementation is that, to a great extent, they rely on labour market measures which have been tried with little success in the past. EAPN firmly believes that if labour market measures are to have any impact, they must be accompanied by a major job creation effort.’

EAPN opposes strictly the from the Commission’s and Council’s documents upcoming ‘impression that unemployment is the fault of the unemployed themselves.’

Besides the actual reference on the guidelines EAPN’s position papers is worthwhile to be read as general contribution to the debate on some major aspects of current social policy debate – even if it is just a brief report on eight pages (contact http://www.epitelio.org/eapn/ e-mail: eapn@euronet.be)

In this context another document is important insofar it stresses the need to take into account the whole societal and social conditions of each country or even region, when it comes to the elaboration of employment policies. The study ‘The Future European Labour Supply’, undertaken by Jill Rubery and Mark Smith, European Work and Employment Research Centre, Manchester School of Management (Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 1999) states: ‘This proposition supports the notion of societal systems consisting of an interconnected network of institutions and social norms, such that the transfer of individual parts of one societal system (an institution or a policy measure) to another cannot be predicted as its impact depends on a set of interlocking factors.’ (10)

Thus, it is still questionable what the Commission simply takes for granted in the subtitle of the Report on Employment in Europe 1998: Jobs for people – people for jobs: turning policy guidelines into action (Luxembourg: Office for official Publications, 1999).

Besides the information given in the EAPN position paper some obvious doubts may come from observing the figures on employment in different sectors and on self-employment (xyz link to Jobs: Two-thirds … and Eurostat-Memo extract) not least in connection with the distribution in different member states (for self employment see as well: Employment Observatory. SYSDEM. Trends No 31. Winter 1998. Institute for Applied Socio-economics. Novalisstrasee 10. FRG-10115 Berlin. Ph.: +49.30.280085-0. Telecopie: +49.30.2826378. e-mail: eurocontact@ias-berlin.de): There is – again and again – some evidence that the individual orientation on self-employment is nothing else than reaching for the straw by the drowning: Many efforts end with additional financial hardship. Even if I don’t know any further research on this issue it seem to be evident: What makes worrying as well is the fact that self-employment and this kind of small business has an especially important meaning in those countries which fall under the support of the cohesion fund. In other words: This kind of employment seems to be typical for those countries with a week economy. – As said: I don’t know of any exact research on this issue; nevertheless the question of the kind of the connection should be considered carefully. Thus, the EAPN position paper states: ‘However, it is vital that public incentives should not be pitches so high as to encourage those who are already vulnerable into dept, because the failure of their venture would inevitably plunge them into poverty. Safeguards must be put in place …’ (5)

Seen in this light the trade unions in various member states should widen their pespective on the matters in question. Nevertheless, they turn to a modest critique but at the same time they acknowledge the fundamental dirction of the Luxembourg outline. Thus it is somewhat alarming when they see, as e.g. in the Netherlands, a threat in third sector activities rather than taking them as point of departure for a constructive co-laboration with the respective organisations. A statement of the German DGB (DGB-Stellungnahme zum Nationalen Aktionsplan zur Durchführung der beschäftigungspolitischen Leitlinien für 1999. ISA. Informationen zur Social- und Arbeitsmarktpoplitik. 2/1999. April)) is strictly concerned with the traditional economic approach: Interesting enough, we find that the general framework conditions of the economy are seen as main obstacles in regard of support for selfempoyment. The questionabeles of the orientation on a strong culture of selfemployment is, however, not issued.

© Peter Herrmann, ESOSC

JOBS: Two-thirds of EU jobs are in small and medium-sized firms

Half of EU firms employing fewer than 10 people are a one-man (or woman) show.

It is easier to find jobs in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in the European Union (EU) of today. Political leaders have been saying this for several years now, and studies bear them out. A recent report from Eurostat, the EU's statistical office, provides confirmation: two-thirds of all jobs in the EU are in companies with fewer than 250 employees. The statistics are from 1995, but the situation has changed very little since then, according to the Eurostat's experts.

Firms with fewer than 10 employees, including those with none, provide roughly one-third of all jobs in the EU. Those with fewer than 250 employees account for another one-third, while large companies (those with 250 employees and over) account for the rest. Nearly half the roughly 18 million firms in the EU have no employees at all; they are a one-man (or woman) show.

Small firms with 0 to 9 employees do not contribute to employment in the same way in all EU countries. They provide more than half the jobs in Greece, and not far from half the jobs in Italy, Spain and Belgium. They provide well over one-third of the jobs in Portugal, just under one-third in France and between one-third and a quarter of jobs in Denmark, the UK, Sweden and the Netherlands. However, small firms provide fewer than one in four jobs in Finland, Austria, Germany, Luxembourg and Ireland.

These firms offer numerous jobs in the services sector, particularly personal services, such as childcare and cleaning, as well as insurance brokerage, property and catering. The somewhat larger firms, those with 10 to 49 employees, provide jobs in footwear and clothing in particular. Medium-sized enterprises, with 50 to 249 employees, make a substantial contribution to employment in the textile, rubber and plastics industries. As for large companies, they account for most of the jobs in telecommunications, gas and electricity, banking and cars.

© EUROFOCUS. News Items of General Interest, Information newsletter published by the European Commission. Weekly No. 11/99. 22 - 29 March 1999 

We can add some other points from a release by EUROSTAT. Memo 2/99 dated from April 15^th, 1999 states:

• There are more than four milliojn enterprises in the area of distributive trades. German enterprises generate on average three times more turnover than their European Counterparts.
• Financial services account for some 3 % of total employment in the EU. In Luxembourg this rises to 8.8. %, but in Portugal the sector employs only 1.8 %.
• The role of small and medium enterprises is increasing within the European economy. They account for some 55 % of the total number of people employed. Large enterprises account for only 14 %.
• Small family business also predominate in transport services, especially in southern Member States. In Greece and Spain there are, on average, only 3.6 and 3.7 employees per enterprise.
• Some six million people work in hotels and restaurants, 94 % of which have between 0-9 employees. In Belgium, for each person employed in an hotel there are six employed in a restaurant or bar – well above the European average.

© EUROSTAT Memo, 2/99. April 15^th, 1999

ACTION: EURONET launches "A Children’s Policy for 21^st Century Europe"

"It is typical that when big elephants fight, the little delicate things are overlooked. In relation to the Amsterdam Treaty, there were so many hard compromises such as common foreign policy and defense policy...It is not very prestigious for a strong and powerful Prime Minister to return back home and tell his citizens that he succeeded in negotiating a bill on children’s policy." EURONET interview with Villy Sovndal, Socialistik Folkeparti, Denmark.

This quote sums up the low political priority that children and children’s policy have at European level. EURONET - the European Children’s Network last month launched its report "A European Children’s Agenda for 21st Century Europe." EURONET’s Newsletter contains a full report of this meeting, including summaries of the key speeches and the recommendations for action. The development of the European Children’s Agenda was the result of a fifteen month consultative exercise with decision makers and NGOs and was funded by DG V.

The report "A Children’s Policy for 21st Century Europe: First steps" written by Sandy Ruxton is an excellent analysis of what the European Union currently does for children and where the gaps are. It makes recommendations for short, medium and long term action. The report is available in English, French and Spanish and is also available on the internet.

EURONET has also compiled a European Children’s Agenda for Action in 11 languages, which will be used partly as a campaigning document for the European elections and partly as a basis from which to lobby for a comprehensive reference to children’s rights in the next revision of the Treaties. The Agenda includes the following recommendations:-

• A new Article should be inserted in the EU Treaties so that the Community can contribute to the promotion and protection of the rights and needs of children
• The European Commission should ensure
• that all proposed legislation and policy is fully
• compatible with the principle of the best
• interests of the child as expressed in the UN
• Convention on the Rights of the Child
• A children’s unit should be established to
• promote overall leadership on children’s
• issues across the European Commission
• The European Commission should publish a
• communication on the children in 1999, the tenth anniversary of the UN Convention on

the Rights of the Child.

The EURONET Coordinator Mieke Schuurman has many copies of the report and agenda for action which are available for national distribution. Please contact her to request copies of the report or agenda on + 32 2 512 4500 or 7851, fax + 32 2 512 6673, e mail "savechildbru@skynet.be". The report is free.

© International Save the Children Alliance, Brussels, newsletter February 1999

FEEDBACK: Parliament Adopts Report on Families & Children

The European Parliament adopted a report on the protection of families and children last month calling for a European children’s policy. Its recommendations include:

• that there should be a coherent family policy which places children at the heart of the European debate and recognizes their rights
• calling for family impact statements as part of all proposals for Community legislation
• that there should be an extraordinary European Council meeting to discuss the consequences of demographic, family and children protection policies
• that there should be a clearly identified unit within the Commission dealing with family affairs and child protection
• that the European Family Policy Observatory should draw up an inventory of legislation and policies affecting children in the Member states
• calling for a Directive on Childcare
• calling on the Commission to present an assessment of the application of the Young People at Work Directive
• calling for the introduction of rules governing extra territorial powers making it possible for nationals who have committed sexual offences outside their national territory to be prosecuted and punished and for legislation with international effect to curb the development of child sex tourism
• calling on the member states to take action to prevent children from facing situations in the media including new technologies that seriously affect their physical, mental or moral development, particularly pornographic scenes

Commissioner Marin replied that greater international cooperation is needed to guarantee better protection of children but that greater attention should also be paid to sociological developments.

© International Save the Children Alliance, newsletter 2/99

MILESTONES: The Amsterdam Treaty comes into force on May 1

Further progress towards a more democratic and effective Europe.

May 1 will be much more than May Day this year, for it will also mark the entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty, a new "constitution" for the 15-nation European Union (EU). While it will not radically transform the EU, the new Treaty will allow Europeans to work together more effectively in such areas of common interest as public health, equality between men and women, and immigration. The Amsterdam Treaty also gives greater powers to the only EU body which is directly elected by its citizens - the European Parliament. Indeed, the EU has already begun to implement the provisions of the new Treaty which deal with employment.

The Rome Treaty set up the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1957. Then the Single European Act, which came into force in 1987, made possible the creation of a frontier-free single market. For its people, the European Community (EC) meant greater opportunities for working in another member state – or doing one's shopping there. The Maastricht Treaty, in force since 1 November 1993, transformed the Community into the European Union (EU), and created a European citizenship. It also launched the process of economic and monetary union, which resulted in the birth of the single currency, the euro, on January 1.

The signature of the Amsterdam Treaty on 2 October 1997 was yet another milestone in the EU's history. EU heads of state or government had adopted the Treaty in the Dutch city a few month earlier, but it had to be ratified by all the national parliaments - and approved by the Irish and Danes in separate referendums - before it could come into force. Germany was the first member state to ratify the new Treaty, which it did last May; France was the last – it ratified the Amsterdam Treaty on March 30 of this year. Under the terms of the Treaty, it must come into force on the first day of the second month following the last ratification.

However, given the urgent need to combat unemployment, EU member states decided to implement in advance those Treaty provisions which deal with the coordination of national employment policies.

As a result, the EU has already adopted employment guidelines for 1998 and 1999. These guidelines represent a certain number of objectives to be reached by member states, with the aim of bringing them closer to those which are the most successful in creating new jobs.

Under the Amsterdam Treaty, the EU Council of Ministers examines the employment policies of the various member states and their implementation of EU guidelines, for it has the right to make reocmmendations to them. The Council can also support exchanges of information and experiences between member states, as well as joint activities undertaken by them and pilot projects. It is a question, therefore, of a European employment strategy.

The Amsterdam Treaty gives the European Parliament a greater role, alongside the EU Council, in the adoption of European legislation on a range of subjects, from the environment to consumer protection and public health. The Treaty also gives MEPs greater powers as regards equality between men and women, the right of establishment in another EU country, the coordination of social security systems and the fight against fraud.

To this list must be added vocational training, regional aid, transport, the ban on discrimination based on nationality, and aid to poor countries. In all these matters the European Parliament will have as big a voice as the Council. The first MEPs to benefit from these provisions of the Amsterdam Treaty will be those elected on June 13.

The Amsterdam Treaty gives the EU greater means of action in several matters affecting Europeans in their daily lives. This is the case as regards consumer protection and public health, as well as certain aspects of social policy.

Thus in the field of public health, the EU's activities will be more broad-based. They will include the prevention of all threats to human health, and not be limited to diseases and drugs, as at present. In addition, the member states will coordinate their programmes and policies for preventing threats to health, and the fight against such major scourges as cancer, AIDS and drug addiction.

The new Treaty also meets the preoccupations which have emerged in recent years in the wake of such scandals as the mad cow disease and the use of contaminated blood. It provides for the adoption of stringent quality and safety standards for organs and blood, as well as for measures aimed at protecting human health by guaranteeing that the animals and plants we eat are themselves healthy. Moreover, when a member state raises a problem of public health, in a field covered by an existing European regulation, the EU must examine the regulation in question in order to see if it needs to be adapted in the light of the new situation.

The Amsterdam Treaty also strengthens the EU's activities in the area of consumer protection, because it provides for the right of consumers to organize themselves and for their education.

The social protocol to the Maastricht Treaty, which applied to only 14 of the 15 member states, no longer exists, given that the UK has accepted its contents. The Amsterdam Treaty provides, moreover, for the adoption of special measures aimed at implementing two principles enshrined in the EU "constitution" since its origins - equality of opportunity and equal treatment for men and women at work. What is more, the new Treaty allows member states to implement measures aimed at preventing or compensating the sex which is under-represented – generally women – for the disadvantages it faces as regards job opportunities and promotion.

The fight against fraudulent activities at the expense of the EU budget, and therefore of the taxpayer, was the responsibility, in principle, mainly of the member states. Under the new Treaty the EU has the right to decide on measures aimed at both preventing and fighting fraud, in order to ensure the same effective protection in all 15 member states.

The EU is increasingly becoming a frontier-free area, and this will also be the case as regards the protection of the freedom and safety of its inhabitants. The Amsterdam Treaty greatly strengthens EU-wide cooperation between the police and the judiciary. At the same time it makes it possible to adopt European measures to combat discrimination in all its forms, whether based on gender, race, ethnic origin, religion, political or other convictions, a physical handicap, age or sexual orientation.

The new Treaty integrates into the EU the activities of the Schengen group, whose aim is the total elimination of checks on people at the EU's internal frontiers. Ten member states currently belong to the Schengen group. The five still outside it are Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the UK and Ireland. The UK and Ireland will be able to keep these checks.

Cooperation between police and judiciary involves the fight against the mafia, terrorism, the traffic in people, child abuse, arms and drug trafficking as well as corruption. It will apply at the level of prevention, investigation and training, with an important role for Europol, the European police agency.

Thanks to the Amsterdam Treaty, EU member states are also better equipped to deal jointly with the problems arising from the arrival, sometimes on a very large scale, of refugees and asylum seekers, who have been driven from their homes by war, persecution or poverty. The Treaty provides for measures in an EU framework as regards the granting of visas, and the right of asylum and immigration. Some of these measures were already included in conventions between member states.

The EU will have more possibilities of action on the international stage under the Amsterdam Treaty, thanks to a broader common foreign and security policy (CFSP) and a high-ranking representative at the head of it. The Treaty refers to the progressive definition of a common defense policy, and envisages the integration into the EU of Western European Union (WEU). This is the only purely European military organization, and it brings together 10 EU member states. Ireland, Austria, Denmark, Finland and Sweden are not members of WEU.

Should an EU member state seriously violate democratic principles and human rights, the EU Council of Ministers could take action against it under the terms of the Amsterdam Treaty. The Council could suspend certain rights enjoyed by the country in question as a member of the EU. They include its voting rights in the Council. However, its obligations towards the EU would remain intact.

In practice, the Amsterdam Treaty will be what Europeans make of it – EU leaders as from May 1 and EU citizens when they elect the European Parliament on June 13.

© Eurofocus. NEWS ITEMS OF GENERAL INTEREST. Information newsletter published by the European Commission. Weekly No. 14/99. 19 – 26. April 1999

EQUALITY BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN: There was progress on this front in 1998

But much remains to be done, according to a recent European report.

Women are at the heart of the European employment strategy, launched last year; and employment is the European Union's first priority. All sorts of initiatives in favour of women were launched in 1998, both in the EU and the various member states. But women continue to suffer much more than men from unemployment, and are not especially powerful. Such are the broad outlines of the picture as regards equality of opportunity, painted in the latest annual report on the subject, and published by the European Commission on Women's Day, March 8.

During a special summit held in Luxembourg, in the autumn of 1997, the EU adopted an employment strategy which was translated into annual guidelines last year, for the first time. These guidelines, which commit member states to take as an example the best among them in each field, are grouped together under four major themes. One of them deals with equality of opportunity between men and women; but it is obvious that this equality must be manifest in every action in favour of employment and, more generally, in all EU policies.

How did these principles translate into practice in 1998? At the level of the EU, a number of initiatives were taken in the framework of the European Social and Regional Funds. One such initiative was the establishment of six European centres to encourage women's integration into economic activity. The Regional Fund supported initiatives favouring the creation of businesses by women, and child care. Such measures have enabled numerous women to find work, according to studies carried out in several countries, including Ireland, Finland, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.

Women have contributed largely to the development of activities other than farming in rural areas, according to a study financed by the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund. In Ireland, for example, many women now work in tourism and training.

The European Commission is making considerable efforts to ensure a larger role for women in scientific research. Thus 27% of the projects supported by it financially are directed by women, although women submit only 10% of the projects received by the Commission.

For their part, most EU member states last year included measures in favour of women in their national action plans for employment, designed to implement the European guidelines. Thus the UK, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Austria set themselves targets for child care services. The UK, Spain and Italy also made provision for the cost of these services to be met through taxes or allowances.

Ireland is preparing a national framework for the organization of child care services. Luxembourg has introduced special contributions to increase women's participation in training courses organized by firms. Austria has taken measures to stimulate vocational training for women, in fields traditionally dominated by men.

The report stresses, however, that women remain a tiny minority in the organs of power, and this at all levels. In the EU as a whole, women are most numerous in regional parliaments, 27.8% of whose members were women in 1998, marginally more than in the European Parliament, where they account for 26.8% of all MEPs. But the proportion falls to just 17.5% on average when it comes to the national parliaments, with very sharp differences between the various member states. While in Sweden, Finland and Denmark, more than one in three members of parliament is a woman, they are fewer than one in 10 in France and Greece, and barely above this figure in Italy.

In some member states one in three government ministers is a woman; this is the case in Denmark, Germany and Luxembourg, where the proportion of women has risen recently, but it has declined in Austria and Finland.

© Eurofocus. NEWS ITEMS OF GENERAL INTEREST. Information newsletter published by the European Commission. Weekly No. 10/99. 15 – 22. March 1999

JOBS: 15 countries which must work together

European guidelines for employment in 1999

If the 15 European Union (EU) countries work together, and follow the example of those which are the most successful in the fight against unemployment, the situation will improve more readily than if each member state goes its own way. This is the reasoning behind the action undertaken by the EU since the employment summit held in Luxembourg in November, 1997. For the second consecutive year, the EU Council of Ministers adopted employment guidelines at the end of February. The 1999 guidelines represent the continuation of efforts undertaken the previous year.

As in 1998, the guidelines point to four major, yet complementary, forms of action. The aim is to help young people, and those who have been unemployed for more than a year, to integrate, or reintegrate, themselves into the world of work; develop the spirit of enterprise which leads to the creation of small businesses, and make it easier for businesses, and their employees, to adjust to technological and other changes. The fourth and last form of action must influence the others, for it is designed to ensure equality of opportunity between men and women.

In addition to recommendations on the nature of the measures to be taken to obtain results, the 1999 guidelines also set out the quantified targets in 1998. Thus EU member states must offer a fresh start to every unemployed young person within six months. This can take the form of training or retraining, work experience or a proper job. Unemployed adults must benefit from the same kind of measures within 12 months of finding themselves without a job. EU countries must offer at least one-fifth of those without jobs training or its equivalent.

The guidelines also commit governments to providing detailed information on unemployment and measures in favour of job creation. This information must be comparable at the EU level, so that the "performance" of each member state can be better assessed in future.

© Eurofocus. NEWS ITEMS OF GENERAL INTEREST. Information newsletter published by the European Commission. Weekly No. 9/99. 8 - 15 March 1999

SOCIETY: What are the prospects for those on minimum benefits?

Some European suggestions, including one for more personalized help from governments.

It is not easy, for the millions of people who receive minimum benefits in the European Union (EU), to improve their situation and to integrate, or reintegrate, themselves into society. Only a small number of them find gainful employment, and are no longer dependent on minimum benefits, according to a recent European Commission report* on the way in which the various member states are implementing EU principles on guaranteeing adequate means. The report notes that here and there measures aimed at improving the prospects of the very poorest are being adopted; and it puts forward ideas of its own.

The rise in recent years of the numbers of those on minimum benefits is due in large part to the fact that, in the face of rising unemployment, many EU countries have either shortened the period during which unemployment benefits are paid, or modified the conditions of eligibility. Hence the recourse to minimum benefits. Even so, unemployed young people are excluded from these benefits in those EU countries which have set the minimum age at a rather high level, as in Spain and France (25 years) and Luxembourg (30 years).

Unemployed persons whose unemployment benefits are replaced by minimum benefits often find that their case is no longer handled by an unemployment office but by social services. This change makes the search for a job more difficult. In order to avoid this problem, several EU countries give priority to those on minimum benefits in the implementation of employment measures, just as the long-term unemployed receive priority. This is the case in Belgium, France, Portugal and, effectively, in Ireland, and in Germany, if to a lesser degree. In the UK social services and employment offices are housed together.

In most EU countries, very few of those on minimum benefits undergo vocational training. They generally do not have either the ability or the necessary qualifications. However, in nine member states they are encouraged to take part in tasks of general interest, although such voluntary work is no more than a temporary solution. Most EU countries encourage employers to hire those on minimum benefits; indeed, those taken on in this way often find regular employment afterwards.

A scheme which is gaining ground - 10 EU countries have adopted it - calls for individual contracts between a national public body and those without resources, on the basis of an action plan drawn up in the light of the specific problems of the person in question. The goals can be as varied as language training, obtaining a driving licence, treatment for drug addiction and dealing with excessive debt.

In its report, the European Commission offers member states three ways of coming to grips with the problem. The first is to organize as complete a form of social protection as is possible; one which takes into account housing, healthcare and the family, and ensures there is coordination between minimum benefits and unemployment benefits or a retirement pension. It is equally important to look into the role of minimum benefits as a supplement to an inadequate income from work.

The second of the Commission's suggestions deals with access to employment for the very poor. Basically, how can they be helped to take advantage of existing vocational training measures, and to move from minimum benefits to a job, without loss of income? The third suggestion deals with the more general problem of the integration of the very poor into society, including their rights and responsibilities, and the problem posed by the rise in their numbers.

The report makes it clear that these questions are of interest not only to the authorities but also employers' organizations, trade unions and charitable and other organizations.

* See Eurofocus 8/99.

© Eurofocus. NEWS ITEMS OF GENERAL INTEREST. Information newsletter published by the European Commission. Weekly No. 9/99. 8 - 15 March 1999

SOCIAL PROTECTION: Minimum income schemes – a safety net for millions of Europeans

Joint efforts at tackling the problems of the poorest more effectively.

Their numbers run into the millions in the European Union (EU). They are not entitled to unemployment benefits – or no longer entitled to them. Some of them work, but do not earn enough to meet their needs. They receive a minimum income – an income-based job seeker's allowance in the UK, for example, or unemployment assistance in Ireland. The names of these minimum income schemes vary from country to country, as do the schemes themselves; but the underlying social problems are common to all of them. Behind the common principles defined by the EU lie complex and varied national methods of implementation. Minimum income schemes tend not to operate in isolation but to form part of a range of benefits and social services.

A first overview of such services is contained in a recent European Commission report devoted to minimum income schemes.

In the 13 EU countries which have national or regional minimum income schemes – those without are Greece and Italy – the total number of beneficiaries is close to 10 million. More than half of them are in the UK, nearly 1.4 million in Germany and over one million in France. Their numbers have been rising to an alarming extent in recent years in all the countries concerned, except the Netherlands.

In 1992 the EU Council of Ministers adopted a recommendation calling on member states to recognize the right of all those legally resident within their territories to the resources needed to live with dignity. This text, which is not binding, establishes such principles as the right to a minimum income for those who do not have adequate resources, either themselves or at the level of their households, as the case may be. It ascribes to a minimum income a complementary role in relation to the other social services, and defines the goal as the reintegration of the individuals concerned.

The recommendation also contains practical guidelines, such as the criteria to be taken into account when fixing the amount of the minimum income. They are the available average income in the country in question, the legal minimum wage and the level of prices.

The recommendation makes it clear that the scheme must provide those of working age an incentive to look for a job. Supplementary assistance is necessary for those whose income falls short of the minimum income, so as to allow for topping up. The recommendation stresses the need to inform the poorest of their rights, to help them integrate, or reintegrate into working life, and to simplify administrative procedures.

The Commission's report examines how these principles have been translated into reality, thus drawing attention to the range of problems facing the poor. While each regional or national minimum income scheme has its own characteristics, they have tended to come closer to each other in recent years. The 13 EU countries which have such schemes view them as an ultimate safety net, covering basic needs without requiring any prior social security contributions on the part of the beneficiaries. Similarly, when assessing individual incomes, they take into account the household in which the individual lives. Finally, the minimum income is granted for an indefinite period.

In several countries the minimum income can supplement retirement or unemployment benefits. There are special social minimums for those who have reached retirement age, the handicapped and for single parent families (usually the mother) in several member states. In the 13 countries in question, except France, those receiving a minimum income must look for a job, and be ready to accept any reasonable employment, if they are fit for work.

But who are the beneficiaries? In all 13 countries, except Spain, single men and single women are in the majority. However, there are no statistics for Ireland and France. Single parent families make up the next largest group, except in Spain, where they are in the majority. Couples with children are next. There is a very high proportion of unemployed people among those receiving a minimum income, as well as a large number of people who have experienced a breakdown in their lives, particularly a divorce or a death.

It seems that the period during which people receive a minimum income is tending to lengthen. Beneficiaries often are not as capable of finding a job as other unemployed persons. In addition, the incentive to work is weak where the job is insecure and does not pay more than the minimum income. But a growing proportion of beneficiaries have poorly paid jobs; here a minimum income plays a topping up role. This is the case with half the beneficiaries of such incomes in Sweden.

© EUROFOCUS. News Items of General Interest, Information newsletter published by the European Commission. Weekly No. 8/99. 1 - 8 March 1999

Centre for Research on Women’s Issues DIOTIMA – A Greek project

Description of the Organisation

The Centre for Research on Women’s Issues DIOTIMA was founded in November 1989, by a group of seven women from different scientific background, who cooperated mainly on the basis of their commonly shared points of view about the equality between women and men and their objective to promote policies of equal opportunities.

Within this rationale, the centre DIOTIMA is specialised in the design and organisation of Vocational Training and Educational programmes for women only, as well as its engagement in the carrying out of studies and researches in order to cover the existing lack of data as regards in the presence of women - social, familial, educational, professional and economic - as a social category, in contemporary Greece.

Since 1989, the Centre DIOTIMA actively participates in the social and political initiatives of the women’s movement in Greece and abroad.

The members of the Board consist its basic scientific staff. An extended network of specialised women scientists participate in the launching and realisation of its training programmes, as well as to the conduct of studies and researches that the Centre DIOTIMA undertakes.

For the realisation of its training programmes the Centre DIOTIMA has worked out and has developed educational methods and tools -of a theoretical and experiencial approach - specifically designed to help women in dealing with their terms of integration and supporting their professional development within the labour market.

The Centre DIOTIMA through its engagement with the issues of women’s political rights and citizenship, the dimension of equality at work, the research and vocational training has been specialised and disposes a considerable expertise on the above matters.

In the field of both european and national programmes, the Centre DIOTIMA through the realisation, the coordination, the development of supporting measures, the development of transnational partnerships, the organisation of conferences and meetings has a great experience which makes it a reliable and effective organisation to undertake with success the coordination and technico-economic management of european programmes.

Since 1996 the Centre DIOTIMA, in the framework of the 4^th Medium-Term European Community Action Programme for equal opportunities between women and men 1996-2000 and with the support of the Equal Opportunity Unit of the European Commission (DG V), has realised three European programmes titled «Integration of equality in enterprises». The study of the first period (1996-1997) had as objective to draw conclusions on the introduction prerequisites and the successful implementation of equality policies / Positive Actions between women and men in european enterprises. As far as the the study of the next period (1997-1998) is concerned, its main objective was to identify the components of mainstreaming equality, the policies, the strategies and the practices that european entreprises have introduced towards equal opportunities for women and men at workplace. As for the current phase of the Programme (1998-1999) the Centre Diotima has decided to proceed towards an inverstigation of Collective Bargaining and Collective Agreements in regard to equal opportunities and realises a study titled: «Integration of Equality in Enterprises – Collective Bargaining and Equal Opportunities».

Mainstreaming Study – Executive summary

Through this study an effort has been made to contextualise and operationalise equality policies between men and women within enterprises with emphasis to gender mainstreaming. The analysis of the gender impact of these equality policies and the results obtained from the enterprise itself, was mainly made towards the possibility they open for the introduction and implementation of the mainstreaming approach.

From the results of this study, we attempted to draw the necessary prerequisites for mainstreaming gender within enterprises, which are presented here, in the form of a list of objectives in various policy areas to be attained, for a successful mainstreaming strategy.

These prerequisites were encountered in different enterprises - obviously in different degree and extent among enterprises included in this study- but they are treated by the study as a spectrum of issues which all constitute ingredients for a successful mainstreaming approach.

Important enough is that in some enterprises, specific approaches and concepts are adopted which, eventhough are not explicitly identified as mainstreaming gender by the enterprises themselves, still they are treated by this study as successful ingredients.

What, above all, proved to be of great importance in all the cases we examined, a minimum towards mainstreaming, is the existence or not of a previously or currently substantial and comprehensive implementation of Positive Action policies.

The tradition of equal opportunity policies within organisations, creates a supportive environment valuable for the adoption of a mainstreaming gender approach. This does not necessarily mean that, a direct impact of this existing tradition of equality on the overall situation of gender equality, has been evidenced. Moreover, the existence of discriminatory practices still operating within the enterprises we examined, creates the need for further action and intense efforts to integrate equality within enterprises.

Necessary prerequisites for mainstreaming gender equality in enterprises

Equal Opportunity Policies

Positive Actions already implemented or under way within the enterprise.

Fragmented and isolated measures for women employees might ensure the eradication of discriminations against women in the work environment but do not necessarily imply the establishment of an equality work environment.

Person in charge and specific funds. At the very best there should be provision within the enterprise for an Equality Officer, responsible to develop equality measures and provide with gender expertise for mainstreaming. The study though proved that in many cases there was simply a Human Resources manager who deals with equality issues lacking necessary gender expertise.

 

Human Resources Strategy

The study traced the type of strategy in terms of its general principles and the concrete measures -if any- that the enterprises adopt for promotion of equality between men and women. For instance,

• corporate philosophy which considers human resources as an «asset» and as a component of the strategic development objectives of the enterprise
• explicit adoption of the equal opportunities objective in corporate policy
• commitment of high ranking officials aware of gender issues
• organisation-wide initiatives focused on:

-reforming organisational recruitment, promotion and appraisal processes,

-moving away from job seggregation

-specific activities tocombat sexual harassment and bullying

• a gender balance at all levels of decision making which promotes
  diversity and allows for the full use of women’s capacities and potential

• Reconciliation policies ranging from measures taken by the enterprise towards its personnel welfare (often under the «new» management principle of «keeping the employees happy») to an enterprise «social policy reflex» leading to concrete and comprehensive measures.
• Quality: not necessarily total quality, which the study shows to be under way in most european enterprises, but quality under a broader definition specially in the services sector

-Total quality process (underway) based on gender contribution

• New forms of work organisation which take into account women’s and men’s aspirations as well as needs, improve the quality and efficacy of their performance and ensure that their contribution is recognised
• Critical examination and/or reform of the existing job evaluation system in order to value and recognise women’s professional skills as regards recruitment and selection practices (alongside initiatives to encourage emergence of women’s professional skills)
• Introduction of new regulations pertaining to work relations such as flexibility, in conjucture with actions/initiatives aiming at changing work culture for both sexes

Potential actors involved

• A participatory industrial relations model
• Strong and extended commitment of the trade union (company based) to equal opportunity objectives set up by both management and employee’s representatives
• Level of working women’s syndicalism company or nationally based, alongside trade union’s initiatives to encourage and guarantee presence and active participation of working women
• Equality experts acting on behalf of national equality bodies for the adoption and promotion of equal opportunity schemes within enterprises
• High ranking officials of multinational companies able to influence the type of management introduced in other countries.

Techniques and tools

• Reviewing of human resources management tools, procedures and techniques such as assessment criteria, testing, performing appraisal, performance pay, team working, annualised hours etc.
• Availability of comparative sex-disaggregated statistics and gender relevant data as well as monitoring processes, which will allow for the assessment of effects, measurement of gender impact of policies and the orientation of decisions as a result.

© Centre for Research on Women’s Issues DIOTIMA, Lina Karaveli

contact: CENTRE FOR RESEARCH ON WOMEN'S ISSUES "DIOTIMA". diotima@otenet.gr

NEWSLETTER 6: EUROPEAN ELECTIONS SPECIAL

THE CHILDREN OF TODAY ARE THE VOTERS OF TOMORROW

Contents:

• Introduction: Why a Special Elections Issue?
• Why is it important for you to get involved in the European Elections?
• Agenda for Action
• What can you do?

• Tools to use in campaigning for children in the European Elections
• Activities you can do for the European Elections at National Level
• The Swedish Example
• Why are children important in the European Union? A Model Letter

• Follow-up after the Elections
• Some Basic Facts on the European Elections
• Analysis of the Election Manifestos of the European parties on issues which affect children
• Annex I : What is in the Report "A Children’s Policy for 21^st Century Europe: First Steps?

Introduction: Why a special elections issue?

Welcome to issue six of the Euronet the European Children’s Network newsletter. This issue is dedicated to the European Elections which will be held from Thursday 10 until Sunday 13 June 1999 in all countries of the European Union. This new Parliament will, following ratification of the Amsterdam Treaty, have more power and wider responsibilities for the well-being of the citizens of Europe. It will be the Parliament that takes Europe into the 21^st century. However, the most important citizens of the new century – the children of Europe – will have no vote in June 1999. But they have a voice through EURONET, a coalition of networks and organisations campaigning for the interests and rights of children at European level. Since children are still invisible on the European agenda it is now time to mobilise your organisation and start promoting children’s issues on a European level with your national MEPs, candidate MEPs and the general public. This newsletter gives you information on the European elections, the manifestos of the different political groups in the European Parliament and tools to use for campaigning for children.

If you have questions, ideas or remarks about the campaign you can contact Mieke Schuurman at the address above.

Why is it important for you to get involved in the European elections?

Some decisions that affect children are no longer taken on a national level but are taken by the European Union. Examples include cross border trafficking, the single market, consumer issues and the media. Moreover, the proportion of the EU’s budget which is currently spent on children is miniscule in comparison with other aspects of EU activity. EU investment for children should therefore be increased. All European citizens have access to the European Parliament to attend its meetings. However, children are not allowed into the European Parliament without being accompanied by an adult.

Campaigning for children in the European elections does not need to be costly or time consuming. As you can read in this newsletter, there are several activities you can do which cost a minimum of time and personnel. This is a concrete way of how you can support Euronet on a national level.

• The European elections are an ideal occasion to inform politicians and candidate MEPs on European children’s issues. You can use the report "A Children’s Policy for 21^st Century Europe: First Steps" and the leaflet "Children are European Citizens too" with the key recommendations of Euronet. A model letter is included in the section ‘Why are Children Important in the European Union? A Model Letter’.
• The report is now available in four languages, English, French, Spanish and German, and the leaflet with the Agenda for Action is available in the 11 EU languages. You can get copies from your national contact person (see list at the end of newsletter).
• The European elections are a good occasion to ask MEPs and candidates to take stands on children’s issues. After the elections you can follow-up on these commitments. Children and young people can also ask questions to MEPs. You can find information on what kind of questions you can ask and some background information on the report in the sections ‘What can you do?’ and ‘What is in the Report’?

Agenda for Action

Euronet’s Agenda for Action is set out in the leaflet which states the key recommendations Euronet would like to achieve for children. The leaflet should be used in campaigning during the European elections. You can distribute this Agenda for Action to politicians, political parties and the media.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Tools to use in campaigning for children in the European Elections.

There are several activities you can do to raise awareness for children with MEPs, candidate MEPs and the media.

Try to do a few of the following activities. It is also a good idea to get children and young people involved in campaigning and let them voice their ideas to the politicians. After all, they are the voters of tomorrow! Euronet’s organisation Focus on Children in Ireland is planning to do this with the groups of young people they are working with.

Activities you can do for the European Elections at National Level

Sending Letters:

• Ask candidates for the European elections to talk about what they plan to do to promote children’s issues once they are elected. This can be done by sending or e-mailing letters from NGOs and children and young people in which you ask them to promote the inclusion of a legal base for children in the EU Treaty and the participation of children (see model letter). Most political parties hold election meetings which you can attend and use as an opportunity to talk to politicians, or you can invite them to a national event on children.

Questions to ask candidate MEPs

• In political debates journalists often ask questions on economic affairs, the euro and agriculture. They should be made aware of other types of questions they can ask concerning children. This can be done by giving interviews and tips to journalists on what questions they could ask candidates on European children’s issues or simply by sending out the leaflet.

Some examples:

• "If you were to be elected would you then support the inclusion of a new article referring to rights and needs of children in the EU Treaty, during the next revision of the Treaty?"
• " Could you tell us the reasons for being a candidate MEP and what you would do for children?"
• "If you were elected would you use your power as a budgetary authority to extend the budgets which are currently targeted on youth to younger children and increase resources available to children in general budgetlines and programmes?"
• "If you were elected would you ensure that the EU institutions promoted a dialogue with NGO’s and children-led organisations".
• "If you were elected would you work for EU-programmes for children and would you be prepared to support the development of an Intergroup on children’s issues?"
• You can use the leaflet to get more ideas for questions or call the Euronet co-ordinator (Mieke Schuurman).

10^th Anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

• You can use the fact that this year is the 10th Anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as a means of getting attention for the rights of the child.
  For example, you can ask candidate MEPs the following question:
  "If you were elected would you support the inclusion of a legal base to promote the protection of the rights and needs of children based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child"?

Distribution of leaflet

• You can circulate the leaflet as widely as possible to politicians, political parties, the media and other children’s NGOs.
• National platforms of children’s NGOs can be used for disseminating the European Children’s Agenda to member organisations.

A questionnaire

• You can prepare a questionnaire for politicians and candidates and ask them about their commitment to do something for children once elected. In this questionnaire you can cover different subjects which are mentioned in the report, such as violence against children, social exclusion of children, non-discrimination of children, the participation of children, children and the media, children as consumers and information on children.

Important Points to bear in mind when Campaigning

• In all these activities it is important to identify issues which are relevant in your country and on which you have a lot of knowledge, and to raise European aspects of these issues with candidate MEPs.
• You also should work on ALL political parties with the same message, so that your organisation remains impartial and is not linked to one or more political parties.
• In some member states there are rules governing what type of political activity NGOs can engage in. It is important to check out what these rules are.

Why are Children Important in the European Union?

In this section you can find a model letter which you can send to (candidate) MEPs. This letter can be adapted for national use and you can include more questions. You can find examples in the ‘What can you do’ section.

Model letter to sent to candidate MEPs.

To: (Candidate) MEP

Dear Mr/Ms,

I am writing to you as a member of (Name children’s organisation), which belongs to the European Children’s Network, to draw your attention to the position of children within in the European Union and ask you to take children’s issues forward in the new European Parliament, should you be elected.

The development of the EU is dependent on its 90 million children, one fifth of the population of Europe. Children will be more affected than any other population group by decisions with long-term implications being taken now. Children deserve attention as active citizens of Europe today with their own specific human rights and needs. A children’s policy focuses on the specific interests of children (rather than other population groups, such as family, youth and women), with children defined as those up to 18 years of age.

At national and local level there has been a visible trend towards policies which explicitly recognise the distinctive position and interests of children. It is also important to focus attention on how Europe and the disappearance of national boundaries can affect children in both positive and negative ways.

This year is the tenth anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This Convention has been signed by our country. If you are elected, would you then be prepared to work for a legal base in the EU Treaty which promotes and protects the rights and needs of children? And would you promote the involvement of children and young people in decision making at all levels through appropriate mechanisms?

You will find enclosed the leaflet with the European Agenda for Children from the European Children’s Network, Euronet. This leaflet contains the main recommendations for children in the EU. I ask you to support these recommendations and carry them forward in your work as a (future) MEP.

We wish you good luck in your elections campaign and hope that you will take European children’s issues forward.

For more information you can contact ……………, tel…..

Yours sincerely,

The Swedish Example:

For further information contact Simone Ek, Rädda Barnen, tel: +46 8 698 90 00, fax: +46 8 698 90 13, e-mail: "simone.ek@rb.se".

Follow-up after the Elections

Follow-up after the elections is very important. Euronet will send you a draft letter after the elections which can be adapted for you to send to newly elected MEPs.

The replies MEPs have given to questions on European Children’s issues and the commitments they have made to actively do something should be followed-up after the MEPs have been elected. Please let the Euronet Brussels office know the results of your campaigning, such as publicity and answers from politicians, so that Euronet can also follow this up in their contacts with the European Parliament and the national agenda where there is a European dimension.

After the elections you can write to MEPs to congratulate them on their election. You can also ask for a meeting with them and you can begin co-operating with them on European children’s issues in the future. Keep briefing them on children’s issues which are on the European agenda.

(in a Box)

Some Basic Facts on the European Elections

The forthcoming European elections will be held from 10-13 June in all EU Member States. There are no uniform electoral procedures for all Member States yet, but the proportional system has been generalised. A proportional voting system means that each political party which gets a certain percentage of the overall votes receives a corresponding number of seats in the Parliament.

Polling will take place on 10 June in Denmark, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, 11 June in Ireland and 13 June in the other eleven countries.

The number of members of the European Parliament that can be elected per country has been set according to the number of inhabitants of that country:

1. Belgium: 25 seats; proportional representation in the framework of 4 constituencies; preference voting;
2. Denmark: 16 seats; proportional at national level; preference voting;
3. Germany: 99 seats; proportional at national or Länder level; 5% threshold to secure seats;
4. Greece: 25 seats; pure proportional at national level;
5. Spain: 64 seats; proportional at national level;
6. France: 87 seats; proportional at national level with a 5% threshold;
7. Ireland: 15 seats; quasi-proportional in a system with four constituencies, preference voting;
8. Italy: 87 seats; proportional at national level with a distribution between regional electoral constituencies; preference voting;
9. Luxembourg: 6 seats; proportional at national level;
10. The Netherlands: 31 seats; proportional at national level;
11. Austria: 21 seats; proportional at national level with a 4% threshold; preference voting;
12. Portugal: 25 seats; proportional at national level;
13. Finland: 16 seats; proportional at national level, preference voting;
14. Sweden: 22 seats; proportional at national level with a 4% threshold; preference voting;
15. The United Kingdom: 87 seats; proportional in the framework of 11 regional constituencies.

(Source "Agence Europe")

Analysis of Election Manifestos of European Parties

To what extent do the election manifestos of the political groups take children’s interests into account? In this section the election manifestos from the Party of the European Socialists (PES), the European People’s Party (EPP) and the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR) and the European Greens are discussed in relation to children. The manifestos of the Union for Europe (UPE), the European Radical Alliance Party (ARE) and the Confederal Party of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) were not available at the time of publishing.

For the full text of the manifestos and the list of candidates you can contact the offices of the political parties in the European Parliament in Brussels or the national political offices in the member states (you can find the address in your telephone directory). If you experience any difficulties contact Mieke Schuurman at the Euronet Brussels office.

The address is the same for all political parties:

European Parliament, Rue Wiertz, 1047 Brussels, Belgium.

• PES Secretariat: tel: +32 2 284 21 11; fax: +32 2 230 66 64;
• website: http://www.pes.org/english/content4-4e.htm
• EPP Secretariat: tel: + 32 2 284 21 11; fax: +32 2 230 62 08
• website: http://www.evppe.org/news/enews10-902.htm
• ELDR Secretariat: tel: + 32 2 284 21 11; fax: +32 2 230 24 85.
• European Federation of Green Parties, office EP LEO 2C85
• tel: +32 2 284 51 35,+32 2 284 71 35,
• website: http://www.europeangreens.org
• UPE Secretariat: tel: + 32 2 284 2688, fax: +32 2 284 49 36.
• ARE Secretariat: tel: + 32 2 284 3324, fax: +32 2 284 99 93.
• GUE Secretariat: tel: + 32 2 284 26 83, fax: +32 2 230 55 82.

Draft Election Manifesto of the Party of European Socialists (PES)

The PES wants to bring Europe closer to the people and believes in equal opportunities for all and is in favour of eliminating discrimination in all its forms. In addition the responsibility for family, society and work must be shared and domestic violence must be combated.

Concerning employment the PES makes a specific commitment to the promotion of programmes to help young people to find employment.

One of the commitments of the PES is to support youth in the 21^st century.

"Young people are the future of Europe and Europe is their future. They are key agents for social, economic and technological progress and, as such, they are right to have high expectations and hope of Europe. We must do all we can to ensure their full participation in society through education, employment, culture and democratic participation. Particular attention must be given to helping young people who are denied opportunity because of poverty, unemployment, or ethnic identity. European Union youth programmes must be reinforced to enable young people to develop their European identity and commitment. We commit ourselves to improving opportunities for young women and men in a Europe that secures the well-being of future generations".

Concerning the strengthening of security and fighting crime the PES states that cross-border crime, such as trafficking in drugs and human beings has a direct impact on peoples’ lives. The PES commits itself to fight crime by stepping up law enforcement cooperation within Europe and improving the effectiveness and democratic accountability of Europol.

Action Programme 1999-2004 European People’s Party (EPP)

Concerning employment the quality of school education must be improved.

The EPP also proposes to move towards equality in family life as well as in professional life, by managing working time in a way that currently only applies to women: part-time work, breaks in a career, parental leave.

Concerning the fight against poverty and social exclusion the EPP is convinced that a policy which stimulates solidarity between generations at a local level, and which includes integrating programmes for both young and old will contribute greatly to the fight against social exclusion.

Concerning the better implementation of internationally-agreed minimum social standards, particularly against child labour, the EPP states that a stronger common position is required by the EU in the relevant international organisations, such as ILO and the UN.

Concerning European training and education policy the individual abilities of children should be taken into account. "Therefore models for pre-school education should be developed". The EPP also stresses the role of the family in respect of education of children and young people. However school should support parents in bringing up their children.

In respect of international crime the prostitution of women and children is mentioned. The EPP mentions several measures which should be taken to combat international crime, such as judicial cooperation, Europol, exchange of personnel and joint training (e.g. the STOP programme). Concerning measures to fight drug-related crime the EPP asks for measures to prevent drug-taking particularly by young people. In addition, the fight against the traffic and sexual abuse of children must be intensified: " Legislation must provide for the prosecution of residents of Member States who have committed sexual crimes against a child abroad, even where the foreign state where the offences have been committed has not become involved in the case. Once a person had been convicted of crimes against children, that person should never be permitted to exercise either a profession, or be involved in a voluntary activity which involves children."

Concerning missing and abducted children the EPP encourages the creation of a European NGOs network.

Draft Electoral Manifesto for the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform party (ELDR)

The ELDR welcomes the extension in principle and practice of non-discrimination on the grounds of gender, race, belief, disability, age or sexual orientation in the Treaty of Amsterdam. In addition the ELDR supports the incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights into EU law.

Liberal Democrats place a high value on the development of the concept of citizenship: "European citizenship contributes to a greater awareness of living within a political community under the rule of law, and underpins the concept of freedom of movement within the Union."

In Europe’s information society, equality of access to high quality education and secure freedom of expression must be universal.

The goal of the ELDR concerning social solidarity is to achieve a society of active citizens with equal opportunities.

Concerning the environment, the ELDR are in the vanguard of the fight to protect the natural environment in the interests of future generations.

Concerning employment, greater and more innovative investment in education, training and life-long learning must be enhanced.

A Common Green Manifesto for the 1999 European Elections

The Greens want to "build a society respectful of fundamental rights and environmental justice: the rights to shelter, to good health, to education, to culture, and to a high quality of life."

The Greens also would like direct participation of people in decision-making that concerns them.

Concerning solidarity the Greens want to promote and implement equality, at national, European and international levels.

The Greens are working for "a redistribution of domestic work and the work of caring for others".

The Greens are also working for improved structures for democratic participation in political decision-making, involving NGOs, Trade Unions and citizens at all levels.

A substantial part of the manifesto concerns the safeguarding of the environment. It is stated that production processes and consumption levels in Western society are severely damaging the environment, threatening people’s health and jeopardizing future generations. In this respect amongst others chemical pollution, causing more and more allergies, irritations and cancer, and transport is mentioned. The manifesto calls for the "promotion of public transport, as well as provisions for safe walking and cycling to ensure basic mobility for all citizens".

Concerning employment a new model of full employment must allow for a more flexible lifestyle, combining phases of employment, education and training, as well as for time to care for children, the elderly and sick household family members, to do household work and to enjoy a social life.

Concerning the enlargement of the European Union, the EU should help the applicant countries to raise their ecological and social standards.

On the subject of human rights and citizenship the manifesto states that there should be specific measures against discrimination on the grounds of gender, age, disability, sexual orientation and identity, ethnicity or religion. In addition, the framework directive on a statute for resident citizens from third countries should be adopted at the European level, including specific rights to family reunification and access to employment as well as electoral rights.

ANNEX I: What is in the report "A Children’s Policy for 21^st Century Europe: First Steps"?

The report’s aim is to set out a vision for the future of children’s policy in the EU. It demonstates that the EU’s current focus in relation to children is incoherent. It argues that an EU children’s policy is needed.

The report mentions the following limitations in and weaknesses of the EU’s current approach to children’s issues:

• In general children’s interests are invisible within the EU policy-making process.
• Children receive only a miniscule percentage of the EU budget.
• Children’s interests are often overridden by shortsighted economic interests. The reason for this is that Governments do not invest in children and that is why they prefer shortsighted economic interests, but in the long run the investment in children would benefit the economic interest.
• There is no focal point within the EU structures for developing overall policy direction and mainstreaming a children’s perspective across all policy areas.
• The EU has very limited legal bases for action in relation to children. Article K1 in the Amsterdam Treaty refers for the first time ever to children. However, the competence for tackling offences against children remains very limited and it is covered by the third pillar which concerns intergovernmental co-operation.
• Other articles on combating social exclusion and non-discrimination on the grounds of age are helpful, although they do not specifically target children.

The report sets out a series of recommendations which would form the basis for an EU children’s policy.

Short Term Recommendations:

• the adoption of a legal basis for the Daphne Programme on violence against children.
• the development of a European Commission ‘Communication’ on children.
• the inclusion of children in Eurostat’s annual demographic report.

Other recommendations are related to specific EU policy areas which are analysed in more depth in the report. These issues are: violence to children, social exclusion, non-discrimination, citizenship and participation, free movement of people, media and internet, consumer policy, education, health, environment, employment, Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and information on children.

Medium and Longer-Term Recommendations:

• A new article should be inserted in the EU Treaties so that the Community can contribute to the promotion and protection of the rights and needs of children.
• The establishment of a Children’s Unit, which would provide a lead within the Commission and oversee the development of an overall EU children’s policy and develop liaison between the EU institutions, including the European Parliament, and children’s NGOs.
• The improvement of opportunities for children themselves to participate more in decision-making processes.
• The improvement of available information on children and more effectively monitoring of their circumstances.
• The incorporation of respect for the principles and standards of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into EU law, policy and programmes.