Re)integration in the labour market; combating racism; business creation; social economy; education and training throughout life; adaptation to change; reconciling family life with professional life; reduction of disparities between the sexes; and integration of asylum seekers: these are the nine thematic sectors of the EU project called “Equal” and aimed at professional re-insertion. Its first results were described by European Commissioner for employment and social affairs Vladimir Spidla during a European symposium in Warsaw with the title “the free circulation of good ideas”. Endowed with an overall budget of 5.5 billion euros up till 2007 (of which 3.2 to be allocated by the EU and 2.2 billion subdivided between the national administrations), Equal has enabled over 1300 local and transnational partnerships to be funded in the period 2001-2004 and the obstacles to job creation and professional insertion removed through innovative policies and programmes. For further information, consult the website http://europa.eu.int/comm/equal
