European Research Council: new membersThe European Commission has appointed seven new members of the Scientific Council, the governing body of the European Research Council (www.erc.europa.eu). These are: Prof. Nicholas Canny, National University of Ireland ; Tomasz Dietl, Polish Academy of Sciences (Poland); Daniel Dolev, Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel); Timothy Hunt, London Research Institute (United Kingdom); Mart Sarma, University of Helsinki (Finland); Anna Tramontano, University of Rome La Sapienza (Italy); Isabelle Vernos, Centre Regulació Genómica (Spain). The mandate of the new members will be ongoing from next February 2 until the end of 2013. “The new members have been identified by the independent ERC Identification Committee, composed of six high level scientists and appointed by the European Commission in September last year”. The Council was created by the European Union in 2007, it falls within the 7th Framework Programme for Scientific Research (2007-2013). It is “the first European organization for scientific research on the basis of scientific excellence of the researchers regardless of nationality, age or scientific discipline, to promote innovative, creative research”. The Council issues grants for young researchers in the initial phases of their career or to scientists recognized as experts in their field, amounting to over one billion euro a year. EU Employment ministers: initiatives for the youth The ongoing economic crisis has seriously impacted the European job market, the younger generations in particular. Over 5 million young people are unemployed. The problem was addressed during the meeting of EU27 Employment ministers in Godollo, organized by the Hungarian presidency of the EU on January 17-18. The meeting will equally focus on support to development, also through Community funding and initiatives with the purpose of creating job opportunities in various areas of production. “Employment policy is particularly important for our presidency-in-office, also because the Europe 2020 strategy identifies various commitments in this area”. “A high number of under-qualified or disadvantaged young people are ousted from the labour market, while those with higher qualifications are having considerable more difficulty in finding employment after graduation”. According to Czomba the slow-expanding economic growth “is still not offering a sufficient number of jobs”. To remedy the situation, the presidency will focus on the implementation of Europe 2020 and its provisions, including flagship initiatives such as the “Youth in Motion” initiative and to use the resources provided by the European Social Fund. During the meeting the EU Employment ministers discussed hanging legislative proposals, including the working hours directive.A “statute” for social economy and the third sectorSustaining and promoting so-called “social economy” carried out by cooperatives, foundations, associations, national services: a conviction brought up once more by the Social Economy intergroup of the European Parliament, which resumed its 2011 activity with a public hearing held a few days ago in Brussels that focused on the creation of different European statutes for economic stakeholders. The meeting brought together MEPs, Commission officials and third sector representatives. Executive officer Pierre Delsaux conveyed the support of Commissioner Michel Barnier responsible for the internal market. The rapid adoption of relevant statutes – he said – would meet the expectations of European citizens, who are looking forward to concrete measures. Marc Tarabella, co-president of the Intergroup, said: “social economy stakeholders should benefit from a legislative framework that will take into account their specificities and enable them to work on equal grounds in the internal market”. Council of Europe: the situation of Christians in Iraq Also the Council of Europe has decided to focus on the violation of religious freedom, and in particular on the situation of Christians in Iraq. The topic is on the agenda of the Plenary of the CoE scheduled next January 24 to 28. The works of the assembly will be marked by the participation of political representatives. In fact, the program envisages the allocution of the president of Turkey Abdullah Gül, of the Serbian president Boris Tadic and Romanian president Traian Basescu, along with those of the prime minister of Albania Sali Berisha. The representatives of the 47 Member States of the Council will analyze a report of the illegal traffic of human organs in Kosovo. There will also be a debate on the protection of journalistic sources and the freedom of the press to the presence of Arne Konig, president of the European journalists’ Federation.
