The aim of Reding's proposed directive, released yesterday (14 November), is to increase the gender diversity of corporate boards throughout the EU by setting a minimum objective of 40% female board members by 2020.

"This is a historical day for gender balance and equality," Reding said at a joint press conference with Olli Rehn, the commissioner responsible for economic and monetary affairs.

Unions in Greece and Italy also planned work stoppages and demonstrations on a "European Day of Action and Solidarity" against austerity policies, which labour leaders blame for prolonging and worsening the continent's economic crisis.

The international coordination shows "we are looking at a historic moment in the European Union movement," said Fernando Toxo, head of Spain's biggest union, Comisiones Obreras.

Unions have called today's strike to protest a push from several member states to cut staff and administrative costs at the EU institutions in the bloc’s 2014-2020 budget.

"The objective of the strike is to protest against the clear intentions of cutting the budget of the European Union in such a way that major projects will probably fall through," said Sylvie Jacobs, president of the Union Syndicale Fédérale.

Some 10 EU countries, essentially a group of net budget contributors, oppose the extension of the European Globalisation Fund (EGF), set up in 2006 to assist laid-off workers develop new skills and return to the job market.

Among the countries blocking the fund's extension are the United Kingdom, Germany, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Austria and Denmark, EurActiv has learned.

The EGF is financed with up to €500 million each year.

The Federal Statistics Office said on Monday (29 October) that German wages rose by 3.2% year-on-year in July, the highest increase since a 3.4% expansion in October 2008.

Wage increases this year have outpaced inflation, which runs around 2% , and are fuelling expectation that German consumers may spend more, in turn boosting demand for imports from European partners.

Even though Germans are traditionally more likely to save than spend, consumer activity has been a pillar of the economy, helping it to expand by 0.5% in the first three months of the year.

Picture

Reid

Reid

Mon, 2012-10-22 18:58

• specialreport-eye-on-active-ageing

A former lecturer at the University of Warwick, England, Fred Reid went blind at the age of 14 and has since then spoken up for the rights of blind people. He has served as president of the UK National Federation of the Blind and Partially Sighted and as a trustee of the Royal National Institute of the Blind . In 1970 he helped to form the Association of Blind and Partially Sighted Teachers and Students and edited its Bulletin for several years. He spoke to EurActiv’s Jeremy Fleming.

The Public Opinion in the EU Regions survey shows the priority and chief concern of Europeans across all EU regions is unemployment. The only exception deviation is found in parts of Germany.

On average, 61% said unemployment is the most important issue for them in their region at the moment. In eight regions in Spain, Italy and Poland, the figure was as high as 91%. 

Stark contrasts between the rate of employment and structural differences in strategies in relation to the blind are revealed in the report - the Hidden Majority.

“The rate of economic inactivity varies very widely. There is also a huge variety in the type of employment delivered,” co-author Fred Reid, the former president of the UK’s National Federation of the Blind and Partially Sighted, told EurActiv in an interview.

Reding has expressed frustration that voluntary schemes to put more women at the top of major companies have failed. The Commission vice president is to present a legal proposal in Strasbourg on Tuesday (23 October).

But it is an uphill fight. “She continues to work on building a coalition,” Mina Andreeva, the commissioner’s spokeswoman, said today, acknowledging that it is “a very ideological debate.”