European Parliament: safeguarding mental health"In Europe one person out of four suffers from problems of mental health at least once in his/her life, while many more suffer their indirect effects", says Greek MEP Evangelia Tzambazi in her report on mental health, which aroused interest even before reaching the floor of the European Parliament. The report was placed on the order of the day of the plenary session of the European Parliament now being held in Brussels (18-19 February). According to the report, "the financial cost of poor mental health for society is estimated between 3% and 4% of the GDP of member states". The larger part of this cost "is linked in the first place to systematic absence from work, inability to work and early retirement". The report "welcomes the European Pact for mental health and well-being", which it considers a priority commitment in the social and health-care field. Tzambazi also calls for the adoption of suitable legislation to this end in EU member states, urges information and awareness-raising campaigns "to promote mental health" and "remove the stigma from mental illness", and underlines the need to "adopt programmes for the prevention of suicides, and devote particular attention to the young, the elderly and the working conditions" most exposed to risk.Labour market: sharp disparities between the European regionsThe European labour market presents "significant regional disparities": the findings of a recent Eurostat survey confirm this. It compares the unemployment rates registered in the various territories of the EU-27. The survey (Eurostat, Statistics in brief, 5/2009, "Regional unemployment") is based on the latest homogeneous data available, dating to the end of 2007, and consequently does not take into account the deterioration of the situation in the labour market resulting from the current economic crisis. "In 2007 says the report the regional unemployment rate presented sharp disparities in the European Union, ranging from 2.1% in Zeeland (Netherlands) to 25.2% in the overseas French department of Reunion". Of the 263 regions (out of a total of 271) that show comparable statistics, "28 had an unemployment rate less than or equal to 3.5%, in other words half the EU average". They comprise 8 regions in the Netherlands, 7 in Italy, 5 in the UK, 3 in the Czech Republic and two in Belgium. "At the other extreme, 14 regions registered an unemployment rate equal to or higher than 14.2%, i.e. double that of the EU average". They include 5 regions in Germany, 4 in France, 2 in Spain and Slovakia and one in Belgium. Eurostat also underlines the disparities between the regions in terms of the female and youth labour market. "In 2007, the lowest female unemployment rate was that of Zeeland in Holland (2.4%), followed by the area of Prague in the Czech Republic (2.8%) and the areas of Cheshire in the UK and Utrecht, again in Holland (2.9%)". The worst situation, by contrast, is that registered in the two Spanish zones of Ceuta (28.7%) and Melilla (28.1%). Equally, "regional disparities are very marked" in youth employment. "In the EU-27 the highest unemployment rates are registered in the French overseas territories of Guadalupe (55.7%), Reunion (50.0%), and Martinique (47.8%) and in Sicily (Italy, 37.2%)".Commission: "Promoting pre-school teaching""Quality pre-school teaching brings great benefits": it is from this conviction that the European Commission set out in sponsoring and presenting a study dedicated to the education of children from birth to the age of six. In the view of the Commission headed by José Manuel Barroso, kindergartens and nursery schools structures to which different names are given in the individual countries "provide a sound basis for schooling and education throughout life" and "help reduce the educational gap for children at risk", those belonging for instance to ethnic minorities or disadvantaged families. The aspects that the Commission considers indispensable to ensure "effective learning processes" include the proper training of teaching staff, the involvement of parents, ad hoc structures and greater public funding. The Commission’s recommendations on the need to promote pre-school teaching are contained in a survey published in Brussels on 16 February. Conducted by the Eurydice network (EU), the survey analyses the national policies of 30 States (27 member countries, plus Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland). The main conclusions reached by the experts are based on the statistical finding that "87% of children below the age of six participate in some form of pre-primary schooling". The EU, however, has set itself the objective of achieving the participation of 90% of children in kindergartens or nursery schools by 2020. "There exist, however, great differences between the countries and also between the different regions as regards age of admission, rate of participation and the type of education and access" offered to children. The survey also pinpoints the problems that especially impact on enrolment in such structures: these include "cultural, social and economic factors", "first and foremost poverty".
