Sunday Alliance: work-free Sundays To respect Sunday rest in order to protect the health conditions of employees and promote the reconciliation of professional and domestic life is the goal of the “Pledge ahead of the 2014 European elections for work-free Sunday and decent work” launched by the European Sunday Alliance, a group that brings together Catholic organizations, NGOs, unions, and leaders at European level. Sunday Alliance issued a document open to endorsement by MEPs and of the candidates in the next elections for the renewal of the European Parliament in May 2014 which states: “”A work-free Sunday and decent working hours are of paramount importance for citizens and workers throughout Europe and are not necessarily in conflict with economic competitiveness. Especially in the present time of socio-economic crisis, the adoption of legislation extending working hours to late evenings, nights, bank holidays and Sundays has direct consequences for the working conditions of employees and for small and medium sized enterprises. Competitiveness needs innovation, innovation needs creativity and creativity needs recreation!” The document demands a pledge by “current or future Member of the European Parliament”, “To ensure that all relevant EU-legislation both respects and promotes the protection of a common weekly day of rest for all EU citizens, which shall be in principle on a Sunday, in order to protect workers’ health and promote a better balance between family and private life and work”; furthermore “to promote EU-legislation guaranteeing sustainable working time patterns based on the principle of decent work benefiting society as well as the economy as a whole”. La Sunday Alliance proposes a European a meeting scheduled for January 21st on the theme “Work-free Sunday” in the seat of the European Parliament in Brussels (http://www.europeansundayalliance.eu/). European elections: all the news on a website “At a time when the EU tries to overcome the economic crisis and the leaders” of Member States “reflect on what direction to take in the future, these are the most important European elections”. “In addition to allowing voters to express an opinion on the efforts of the leaders to tackle the eurozone crisis, and to voice their opinions on the project for stronger economic and political integration, these are also the first since, in 2009, the Lisbon Treaty conferred the European Parliament new and greater powers”, states a release published on a new portal of the European Parliament addressed to 503 million EU citizens ahead of the elections of 751 MEPs for the 2014-2019 term. Mindful of low turnouts to the polls for the Assembly in Strasbourg in recent years and of further decreases expected in May elections, the website provides informative material on the role and powers of the Euro-Chamber, on MEPs (political and legislative activity, along with information for “transparency” such as salaries, pensions, benefits), directives and regulations adopted during the legislature, the forthcoming challenges to be addressed by EU policymakers in the forthcoming months and years. The website available in 24 official EU languages can be visited by logging on www.elections2014.eu. EU Council: Greece’s rotating presidency Growth, employment and cohesion, community integration, economic governance, eurozone; migration emergencies, contrasting illegal migration, human rights: these are the three main chapters of the program of the Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers in the first semester of 2014, entrusted the Greek government. Athens has taken the lead of the Ministerial coordination of EU28 taking over the post previously held by Lithuania. Six months of hard work lie ahead, state Greek authorities, owing to a set of hanging issues at EU level, such as banking union, that was given the green light by heads of government and State during the December summit and the forthcoming elections for the renewal of the European Parliament (May 22-25). In a message for the opening of the new presidential term Greek Vice-President, Minister for Foreign Affairs Evangelos Venizelos said: “Greece assumes the presidency with a heightened sense of responsibility towards its EU partners and all citizens” of the Union. “These months will mark a major turning point, not only for Greece, which emerges from a crisis that has imposed painful sacrifices to the Greek people but also for the whole of the EU”. The ceremony for the opening of the presidential term has been scheduled for January 8.
