Most Europeans set to shun EU elections - European Elections : europa, europe | euronews

Two out of three European voters will not cast a ballot in this June’s elections, says French newspaper Liberation.

That is according to a Eurobarometer survey about to be released by the European Commission.

It predicts record abstention of 66 percent. The the survey says participation will be even weaker in some countries, the poorest in Poland, Austria and the UK.

Eight out of ten British voters could not even name the date — Thursday 4 June for them, coinciding with local elections, and up to June 8 in other countries.

The lack of awareness is general. The strongest showing is expected to be in Belgium and Luxembourg, where voting is compulsory by law.

Media disinterest in the campaigning and the core subjects is said to be crushing, to the point of hostile in France, Britain and Belgium.

Economic concerns combined with ignorance is therefore seen as undermining trust in the EU’s institutions.

More than half the people who took part in the January-February Eurobarometer poll wanted the EU election campaign to focus on employment and growth. Pensions, crime, immigration and terrorism trailed far behind.

Record recycling rates for business - Telegraph

Wouldn't it be great if the same could be said for Spanish businesses or even Councils. Where I live in Spain there is no such thing as recycling it all goes into landfill sites, never mind the environment.

Record recycling rates for business - Telegraph

UK 'will miss environment targets without more investment' - Telegraph

UK 'will miss environment targets without more investment' - Telegraph

Sir David Attenborough backs campaign to limit human population - Telegraph

Sir David Attenborough backs campaign to limit human population - Telegraph

Cardboard cooker wins global climate change competition - Telegraph

Cardboard cooker wins global climate change competition - Telegraph

Greens promise £165 a week state pension

The following article appears on the UK Green Party website.

Any such policy decision would be exceedingly welcome to the Expat pensioners here in Spain as those who have their UK state pension as their major source of income are suffering very badly with the current low interest rates paid on any savings and the low exchange rate of the £ to the €, a double whammy!

"On National Pensions Action Day (Monday 6 April), the Green Party announces its key election pledge for pensioners - a £165 a week non-means-tested citizens' pension for every pensioner in the UK.

The pledge will form part of the Green New Deal for Older People, which the Green Party will launch in the build-up to this year's elections (1).

Jean Lambert MEP, the Green Party's spokesperson on social affairs, said today:

"The Green Party today celebrates Pensions Action Day with possibly the best action a political party could take for British pensioners: a policy that would lift all our pensioners out of poverty."

The National Pensioners Convention (NPC) have been calling for a pension at or above the official poverty level, which is defined as 60% of median population earnings less housing costs.

For 2007/8 this would have meant a single person’s pension of £151 per week - compared to the actual full state pension of £90.70 and a pensions credits guarantee level of about £120 a week.

The NPC has recently pointed out that:
- Between 1997 and 2006, the number of British people living in severe poverty – defined as living on less than 40% of median population income – increased by 600,000.
- Last year the poorest quarter of UK pensioner households saw their incomes rise by less than 1%, well below inflation. The poorest single pensioners saw their real incomes drop by 4%.
- At least 15% of UK pensioners – over 1.5m older people – are living in persistent poverty (below 60% median population income for three out of the last four years).
- Pensioner poverty in the UK has risen in the last year by 300,000 - equivalent to 822 people a day - and now reaches 2.5m (1 in 4 older people). Two thirds of these pensioners are women.

Jean Lambert, who was elected in 1999 as London's Green MEP and now sits on the European Parliament's Inter-Group on Ageing, commented:

"If the other parties are unwilling to lift pensioners out of poverty, then it's clear pensioners will need to elect Greens to fight their corner. Voting Green is about building a better future - and that includes a secure economic future for older people."

Jean Lambert MEP will lead the Green Party delegation in support of the NPC demonstration in London. She will be joined by Darren Johnson AM, the Green Party's trade & industry spokesperson and its parliamentary candidate for Lewisham Deptford, and Cllr Romayne Phoenix of Lewisham Borough Council.

1. The full Green New Deal for Older People will explain how the UK can afford to lift all pensioners out of poverty.2"

UK Greens welcome court ruling for disabled firefighters

The following is an article from the Green Party of the Unitied Kingdom website.

How could firefighters who put their lives on the line to help others be treated in such a way by a supposedly carring government?

Green Party Disability Spokesperson Alan Wheatley said today: "I am delighted that the FBU has found support in the Appeal Court to overturn unfair Government rulings on the pension rights of disabled firefighters.[1]

"The Government's decision to withdraw redeployment and pension rights was grossly unfair but remarkably in keeping with its stance of riding roughshod over the employment and welfare rights of disabled people and disregarding our experience and training."

"The withdrawal of redeployment rights and pension prospects for firefighters who become disabled while in active service showed no consideration for the firefighters' contribution to society or residual capabilities."

By contrast, under the Government's welfare reform agenda, once disabled people become unemployed, as benefit claimants they would be required to make themselves available for any work not ruled out by their ill-health or impairments.[2] [3] [4]

The Court of Appeal overturned Government-imposed denial of the firefighters' rights. "As FBU General Secretary Matt Wrack has said, it is now up to Government to rewrite the guidance on firefighters' redeployment and pension rights," Mr Wheatley concluded.

--

NOTES

[1] http://www.socialistunity.com/?p=3872
[2] Alan Wheatley is Disability Spokesperson for the Green Party of England & Wales and its Trade Union Group.
[3] This Government signed up to the UN Convention on Rights of Disabled Persons in March 2007 but has so far failed to ratify the agreement. Instead, it has sought several opt-outs. It has also closed Remploy factories, shedding highly skilled workers as Remploy's corporate rebranding has been toward providing jobsearch supports instead. This has also destroyed workers' communities in the name of getting disabled workers more into mainstream employment.
[4] http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2008/11/25/110092/johnson-and-purnell-back-plans-to-end-sick-note-culture.htm

Union citizenship and freedom of movement: MEPs slam Member States

European Parliament Press Release - Justice and home affairs - 02-04-2009

Since 2006 over eight million Europeans have exercised their right to reside in another EU Member State. However, the Member States have erected many obstacles to the free movement of the EU's citizens, according to the European Parliament. The public still has little awareness of its rights, including the right to vote in local and European elections in the country where they live, say MEPs. The report was adopted with 500 votes in favour, 104 against and 55 abstentions. Practical application of the right to freedom of movement and residence of citizens and members of their families in the territory of the Member States is disappointing, say MEPs in an own-initiative report by Adina-Ioana Vălean (ALDE, RO). In fact, no Member State has fully enacted the whole directive in its national law.

Major infringements of fundamental rights have therefore been identified, including some relating to the right of entry and residence for family members from non-EU countries and the obligation for EU citizens, when applying for a residence permit, to submit additional documents such as work permits or satisfactory proof of accommodation, something not required under the directive.

MEPs therefore call on the Commission to take action against Member States whose national laws are incompatible with the directive. National administrative practices very often constitute serious obstacles to the exercise of their rights by citizens, says the House.

The report points out that the Commission has received over 1,800 complaints, 40 parliamentary questions and 33 petitions on these matters. Five infringement proceedings have been launched. MEPs believe the situation shows the Commission's inability to ensure that Member States comply with the directive in consistent and timely fashion and to manage the sizeable number of complaints lodged by the public regarding the implementation of the directive.

Turning Back The Clock To Save The Bramley Apple

Bramley cooking apple. (Credit: iStockphoto/Merlin Farwell)

This item caught my attention because it is unfortunate that Bramley Apples are not available in the local supermarkets here in the Costa Blanca. To bake an apple pie or apple crumble you have to use Granny Smith apples as an alternative but they just don't taste as good.

Save the Bramley and bring them to Spain!

ScienceDaily (Apr. 3, 2009) — The world’s most famous cooking apple celebrates its 200th birthday this year, and the unique flavour of the original Bramley Apple is thriving — thanks to scientists and grounds staff at The University of Nottingham.

Read full article HERE.

Source Of Major Health Benefits In Olive Oil Revealed

ScienceDaily (2009-04-02) -- Scientists have pinned down the constituent of olive oil that gives greatest protection from heart attack and stroke. In a study of the major antioxidants in olive oil, researchers showed that one, DHPEA-EDA, protects red blood cells from damage more than any other part of olive oil.

Read More