Crises, challenges and commitments

“European labour markets are faced by various urgent challenges: first of all, unemployment”, followed by the crisis of “some traditional activities” and “segmentation” that leads “to the co-existence of highly skilled and unskilled workers, workers who are protected and those wholly deprived of any protection”, says JOANNA LOPATOWSKA in the September number of “Europe infos”, the monthly of COMECE (Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community) and OCIPE (Catholic Office of Information and Initiative for Europe). Basing her reflections on the Green Paper of the European Commission “Modernizing labour law to overcome the challenges of the 21st century” (November 2006), Lopatowska analyses the efforts made in this direction by the Executive over the past year. FLEXIBILITY AND SECURITY. The Green Paper was followed up by the Communication on flexibility and security (June 2007) with its proposal of “four approaches to flexicurité (i.e. flexibility and security)” which take into account “the diversity of needs and experiences of the member states”. Then in mid-July came the “Initiative Report” of the European Parliament, through which, Lopatowska explains, “MEPs insist that contracts for an indeterminate period be recognized as the norm in terms of employment”. “An important element” is the Portuguese Presidency’s emphasis “of the social dimension of the Lisbon Strategy”. According to the expert in human rights, today “social protection and assistance are among the major concerns of citizens” and the EU “is faced by the difficult task that is their consequence, namely, how to reconcile the interests of trades-unions and those of employers”. “A part of the 214 million people who form the working population of Europe – she adds – work for the Church and the institutions linked with it. So the development of labour law is of direct concern to the Churches and at the same time emphasizes the need for them to reinforce their own message on the social, ethical and anthropological aspects of labour”. NOT ONLY ISLAM. “Within Europe few questions are so divisive as that of the European identity. Does it exist? And in what does it consist?”. The question is posed by MICHAEL KUHN who lists the various positions on the matter and brands as “dreadful” the “inability or reluctance of some to recognize the contribution made by the various cultures to this nascent identity”. “If our culture, which claims to be pluralist, really is a culture made up of various cultures”, argues Kuhn, “the various groups of society ought then to obtain recognition of their diversity and of the contribution they make to this culture. They should not be judged exclusively on the basis of their ability to conform to whatever opinion is considered correct or currently in fashion”. “If the dialogue between cultures wishes to be coherent – concludes Kuhn, looking forward to the approaching European Year of Intercultural Dialogue in 2008 -, it should be fostered not only with Muslims, but also with the various groups and currents of our European society”. A STRATEGY FOR CENTRAL ASIA. “Supporting the countries of Central Asia – Kazakhstan, Kirghiz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – in their political and economic modernization, made all the more necessary by the rapprochement of these countries with the EU following enlargement to Romania and Bulgaria”: this, explains MARKUS MERK , is one of the objectives of European neighbourhood policy. In this field, continues Merk, “economic relations play a primary role, and the EU is concentrating its efforts in particular on the energy sector, given the strategic situation of these countries on the Black Sea”, but “it also takes into consideration such questions as water resources and education”. In this regard, says Mark, “thanks to the construction of an electronic ‘silk road’, Central Asia should be linked up with the IT network of the EU to permit students, teachers and researchers to access and take part in current programmes of ongoing education”. The case of Russia is different, since it forms part neither of the European neighbourhood policy nor of the strategy for Central Asia”, says Merk. “Due to its history and political and economic role, it is clear Russia occupies a special place for the EU. But it remains an urgent task for Russia to respect the rule of law, democracy and the human rights of its neighbours. If not – warns Merk – the credibility of the European Union risks suffering its consequences. The mere fact that Russia’s neighbours closely observe relations between Russia and the EU in itself makes that indispensable”.