Report on equality between women and men 2010
Source: European Commission Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities
From Main Developments:
Combating persisting gender inequalities in all spheres of society is a longer-term challenge, since it entails structural and behavioural changes and a redefinition of the roles of women and men. Progress is slow, and gender gaps persist as regards employment rates, pay, working hours, positions of responsibility, share of care and household duties, and risk of poverty.
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Dutch reject retired U.S. general’s claim that having gay soldiers led to Srebrenica massacre
LONDON — Top Dutch officials ditched their usual diplomacy Friday in an angry reaction to suggestions by a retired U.S. Marine Corps general that allowing openly gay troops to serve in their military was partly to blame for Europe’s worst massacre since World War II.
Olli Rehn interview makes big news in Germany
Germans oppose Greek aid, poll shows
Pillars of Sarkozy’s success are starting to crumble
COSI – A new important Council body on EU internal security
Germany’s second chamber: Europe 2020 timetable violates Lisbon Treaty
In a freshly published press release the European Chamber of the German Bundesrat has criticised the timetable of the Europe 2020 process foreseeing a decision at the European Council on 25-26 March 2010 as violating the rights of national legislatures under the Lisbon Treaty. It also dismisses parts of the 2020 strategy as violating the Treaty.
Europe 2020 – Partial delay after Bundesrat complaint
After Germany’s second chamber, the Bundesrat, complained on Tuesday that the schedule for the Europe 2020 strategy was against the Lisbon Treaty rules, European Council President van Rompuy now has postponed parts of the decision.
Lisbon wars – The Council fights back
One Wednesday, you humble blogger reported about the letter from the European Parliament’s international trade committee to the Council demanding more involvement in international trade matters. In the draft reply from the Council you can see that the other side is fighting back.
Note of discord in Europe’s position on Athens
Why We Don?t Want To Have The ?Instruments of Torture? Used in Spain
We may not want the instruments of torture, but if the Spanish government doesn?t do something to change course and restore growth to the economy, they will be applied. This post is just to draw the attention of anyone who might be interested to my new blog on the Spanish newspaper Expansión (in Spanish). The latest post is about why it would be better for Spain?s political parties to get together and take the decisions themselves, rather than wait for the European Monetary Fund to wheel out Herr Schäuble?s ?Instruments of Torture?.
The European Council on the web
I was looking for the agenda of the next European Council when I wrote this post yesterday, which brought me to the website of the European Council for the first time – and I like it.
Greece should go to the IMF
The economic crisis in Europe is falling most severely in Greece at the moment. The Greek government has a ruinously high deficit this year, at 12.7 per cent of GDP, and starts from a precariously high accumulated public debt, of more than 100 per cent of GDP. This blog has observed before that you can?t buck the market, as the government of Greece is learning the hard way.
Barroso backs EU package to bail out Greece
MAIN FOCUS: Merkel wants possibility of excluding members from Eurozone | 18/03/2010
German Chancellor Angela Merkel proposed on Wednesday that it should be possible to expel crisis-ridden member states from the Eurozone as a last resort. That would mean the end of the idea of Europe, writes the press.
Do Brussels reporters live in a fantasy land?
Leigh Philips of the EUobserver has continued the story on the declining number of correspondents in Brussels, revealing a significant loss of reality of the journalists.
“[T]he reporters considered calling on the institutions to make press releases available only to accredited Brussels journalists. Some in the room objected to the restrictions on access to information this would entail and the association ultimately voted to just request a wider use of the ’embargo’ system, in which information is delivered to a journalist with enough time to prepare a story ahead of a document’s full public release.
Journalist demanding information that are meant for the public exclusively or ahead of time is just ridiculous.
MAIN FOCUS: Middle East violence menaces Europe | 19/03/2010
The peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine are grinding to a halt, while missile attacks from the Gaza Strip, Israeli air strikes and the announced construction of new settlements in East Jerusalem have done much to poison the atmosphere. The maelstrom of violence will engender more terror and thus threaten Europe, commentators write.
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