Champions League: television spot encourages toleranceA TV spot will raise public awareness on the value of tolerance and the role of languages in Europe, acting “like bridges”. The initiative was taken by the EU Commission, UEFA (the Union of European Football Association) and by ‘Football Against Racism in Europe’. The short spot “shows three groups of football fans during the peak moment of a game: despite their different cultures, origins or language, supporters share the same passion for football and enjoy the game in the same way”. “The sense of belonging based on language and culture diversity – pointed out the Commissioner for Multilingualism Leonard Orban – is a powerful antidote to intolerance”. The 30-second TV spot will be broadcast in the interval of the 125 games of the Champions League, starting September 16 2008 until May 2009 finals. An estimated number of 140 million weekly viewers are expected to follow the Games. It will be broadcast in 40 European countries. The pro-tolerance spot falls within the realm of the new strategic communication on multilingualism. Health: fruit and vegetables freely distributed in schools According to the European Commission, there are some 22 million overweight children in the 27 EU Member States. Over 5 million “are obese, and the situation is getting worse. These figures are expected to increase by over 400 thousand each year”. “Childhood food habits usually remain in adult life and are passed on to the next generation. Most Europeans eat too little fruit and vegetables (less than 400 grams, as indicated by the World Health Organization) while its consumption among the youth is declining”. In order to address the issue, which might lead to serious diseases with heavy health and social costs, the Commission drew up a plan aimed at encouraging healthy food habits among the youth. “Starting in 2009 – explained a Note by the Executive – European funds should be used for the free distribution of fruit and vegetables in schools. Furthermore, a number of surveys indicate that indigent families don’t eat the suggested five daily portions of fresh fruit and vegetables”. Similar initiatives have been carried out to encourage milk consumption in the last 30 years; some 300 thousand tons of milk are currently distributed in schools throughout the EU. The initiative’s costs “will be equally covered by the community budget and that of national governments”.Child protection: a competition for the youth “Guaranteeing and spreading information on the rights of minors, in particular the right to protection enjoyed by all children and adolescents living in the EU are the objectives shared” by the European Community and its Member States. Jacques Barrot, vice-President of the Commission, gave new impetus to the competition addressed to European youth regarding the creation of a poster illustrating the campaign for the protection of the rights of minors. The initiative envisages the establishment of a team of four young people aged 10-14 or 15-18 who will have the task of designing an A2 format poster. “This year’s competition is based on the belief that children have the right to protection from abuse and ill-treatment. Participants are called to convey this message in their project”. The Executive’s guidelines are: what do you understand as the right to protection? In which situations should the youth be protected? (At home, school, television, the internet..)? How can we work together to ensure that all the youth are protected? The projects are due by October 31 2008. A European one will follow a national selection. The winners will be awarded in Brussels in December. Information regarding the initiative is available on the website www.europayouth.eu.Serbia, another step in the direction of the EU Belgrade takes another step towards the EU. Serbia’s parliament in fact ratified the Association and Stabilization Agreement (ASA) with the European Community. The 27 Member States will enforce the agreement prior to ratification. The ASA was signed past April 29 provided a series of conditions are complied with. The most important of which, states the Commission, “is the cooperation with the International Court of Justice in The Hague”. The arrest of Serbian-Bosnian leader Radovan Karadzic did not affect Brussels’ stand. Indeed, Ratko Mladic, charged with being a “war criminal” is presently on the loose. “The EU claimed that before making further steps it will await to read the report regarding the initiatives taken by Belgrade’s authorities drawn up by Serge Brammertz, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia”.
