"Concrete Europe", the facts of 2009What has the European Union done for you over the past year? To answer this recurring question, the Commission published online at http://ec.europa.eu/snapshot (in English, the 22 official languages due to follow suit) a snapshot of the "ten actions that have been put in place over the past year by the EU". "The yearbook provides a collection of success stories where EU action has led to tangible results for citizens, with topics ranging from research into finding new cures for dementia to mitigating the effects of the economic crisis". “The examples in the yearbook clearly demonstrate that the EU produces positive and visible results in our daily lives as citizens, consumers, and workers”, said Vice-President Margot Wallström, responsible for Institutional Relations and Communication Strategy. The achievements pointed out in the yearbook (due to be published in brochure format) include cheaper costs and connections with mobile phones, Fighting hunger in the world’s poorest countries, tackling climate change, caring for the environment, action against natural disasters, biodiversity protection, keeping online shopping hassle-free.Multi-language EU internet domain A "real Europe of multilingualism" is also born on the Internet, since the web is among the most widespread means of communication (cultural, social and economic). For this reason the EU wished to make possible registration of .eu domain names for the companies and organizations in EU-27 using characters from all 23 official languages of the European Union. "This means that registrants, for example, can use Greek or Cyrillic names". "”Internationalised Domain Names under .eu, our European Top Level Domain, are a big step towards a truly global and at the same time local internet", said Viviane Reding, the EU’s Information Society Commissioner. Many internet users will come from "countries where most languages are not based on the ‘a to z’ Latin script and they will naturally want to use their own scripts. The launch of international domain names under .eu will respond even better to the needs of a multilingual and multicultural Europe". Innovations include the adoption of non-Latin scripts present in the Spanish, Catalan, Basque, French and Portuguese languages. Eurostat, a portrait of the youth Young people amount to almost a fifth of the total EU population. They have their own characteristics compared to the older generation, but also reveal differences "in their behaviour between Member States". Eurostat provides a snapshot of European youth in the report titled, "Youth in Europe A statistical portrait" which shows that on 1 January 2009, there were 95 million persons aged 15 to 29 in the EU27. The report addresses a number of areas (education, employment, lifestyle, consumption). Accordingly, the unemployment rate was 19.2% for those with a low education level (up to lower secondary education) and 9.1% for those with a medium level (upper secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education). The Report also provides data on youth leaving their parental home. "The average age of leaving home differs strongly between Member States", although "in all Member States, men stay longer in the parental home than women". Employment raises greater concerns than security Europeans’ major concern is unemployment, although they are cautiously optimistic about the economy. However, a majority still believes "the worst of the crisis is to come". This is what emerges from a Eurobarometer survey issued December 14. Accordingly, "A majority of Europeans (54%) believe that the worst is still to come regarding the impact of the crisis on jobs, 38% think that it has already reached its peak". "30% of Europeans think that the next twelve months will be better, 38% the same and 21% worse". Similar "more positive expectations were recorded for the future of the world economy". 29% think it will be better in the next twelve months, 36% the same and 24% worse". The Eurobarometer survey shows that 51% consider unemployment as the most important issue in their country at the moment". The economic situation (40%) comes second while inflation, (19%) is the third most important issue together with crime.
