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NEWSANALYSIS Execution by hunger After a written declaration last March failed to make it through parliament, MEPs are preparing for another attempt to get the Ukrainian famine recognised as a genocide. Sarah Collins reports A s Ukrainian politicians negotiate a new governing coalition, EPP deputies are preparing the ground for a resolution to recognise the famine that hit the country in 1932-33 as a Soviet-enforced genocide. Holodomor (from the Ukrainian ‘execution by hunger’) was discussed in the Strasbourg plenary last month, when Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko met with European parliament president Hans-Gert Pöttering. This year is the 75th anniversary of holodomor and according to Portuguese EPP deputy José Robeiro e Castro, “it is more than necessary that the European parliament pass a text during this anniversary, as a sign of friendship with the Ukrainians.” Although historians differ on the figure, the famine is said to have taken the lives of at least three million people, and up to 10 million, during 1932-33, after the Soviet regime seized crops from Ukrainian peasants to raise money for industrialisation. The grain was then exported, while Soviet military raids, secret police and a system of internal passports ensured that peasants were confined to their villages to starve. The recognition of holodomor has widespread and growing support among EPP deputies, including the UK’s Charles Tannock. “What happened in Ukraine was a monumental massacre. It was not just an ethnic cleansing in the sense of genocide, but also resulted in wiping out a social class of people.” Last March a written declaration was initiated by Tannock with Marek Siwiec and Konrad Szymanski for the international recognition of holodomor as genocide. The declaration didn’t receive the majority of parliamentary signatures it needed to pass. According to Tannock, a written declaration requires an enormous amount of support, and this issue is unlikely to gain the required amount because it’s such a specialised subject. It is also unlikely to be popular with the Socialists in parliament, as it could be interpreted as hostile towards Russia. But Marek Siwiek disagrees. “The condemnation is not directed against Russia but against Stalin. It’s a question of the basic truth about history,” Siwiec goes on. “Facts from Soviet history have not been recognised for some time, but everybody knows that the Ukrainian famine was genocide.” In fact, in October Putin paid tribute to the victims of the Soviet terror, but fell short of condemning Stalin’s purges. Several countries have already recognised holodomor as an act of genocide, including the US, Canada, Australia, Italy, Poland, Hungary, Estonia, Lithuania, Georgia, Paraguay and Peru. Within Ukraine, both president Viktor Yushchenko and prime minister Viktor Yanukovich are strongly in favour of the motion to the European parliament, and a change of government, due to be announced at the end of November, will have no effect on efforts. President Yushchenko has earmarked 2008 as a national year of holodomor remembrance. He has proposed a bill criminalising the denial of both holodomor and the Holocaust, and has revealed plans for a holodomor memorial to be unveiled in autumn 2008. As part of the memorial, the Ukrainian committee to commemorate the 75th anniversary of holodomor is putting together a book of remembrance of the victims of the famine. There will also be a high-level political conference organised by the committee next year. The committee has even censured four Ukrainian regions for not doing enough to commemorate the anniversary. The EPP is finalising a text to submit at the next parliamentary plenary, with a view to getting a motion for resolution by January next year. ”What happened in Ukraine was a monumental massacre. It was not just an ethnic cleansing in the sense of genocide, but also resulted in wiping out a social class of people” 12 November 2007 PARLIAMENT MAGAZINE 29 Issue 256 12 November 2007 Jan Olbrycht on Poland, working with the regions and his fascination with text messaging IN ASSOCIATION WITH Text appeal “IF WE CANNOT TRANSLATE EUROPE INTO THE NORMAL LANGUAGE OF EVERYDAY PEOPLE, THEN WE ARE FAILING” Vladimír Å pidla reviews 2007’s European year A unifi ed front against cancer Advocacy strategies Forum ESMO Cancer Patient Advocacy Forum 26 – 27 November 2007 Stanhope Hotel, Brussels The ESMO Cancer Patient Advocacy Forum is an educational event for representatives of patient groups, advocates and cancer leagues, aimed at providing them w Issue 256 12 November 2007 Editor’s comment Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is an overlooked killer. World COPD day falls on 14 November this year. It will be marked by the launch of a written declaration which I urge all MEPs to sign. However, most people, including MEPs, do not kno POLICYFOCUS Equal Opportunities 32 Stand up for your rights The time has come to put into action the ideas and initiatives fostered by the European year of equal opportunities for all, says Vladimír Å pidla INSIDEEU 62 Modern challenges Climate change, terrorist threats and industrial risks are st WESTINGHOUSE HAS SOME TO ACCOMPLISH simple ideas, great things. W E S T I N G H O U S E E L E C T R I C C O M PA N Y L L C The Westinghouse AP1000 is ready for global use. TM China will build four AP1000s, beginning in 2009. The AP1000 has also passed all the steps for compliance with European U NEWSANALYSIS EU parliament set to take MEPs battle gender wraps off web TV channel employment gap The long-awaited blueprint for parliament’s planned web TV channel was unveiled last week. The prototype, shown to the assembly’s president, Hans-Gert Poettering, and vice-president, Alejo Vidal-Qu NEWS | Parliamentary Roundup New EU anti-terror chief warns of Islamic extremism The EU’s new anti-terror coordinator Gilles de Kerchove has told MEPs that Islamic extremism poses the greatest security threat to Europe and has called for tougher border controls to combat terror. Addressing a pack EDIFICE: Emploi Durable pour l’Insertion par la Formation et l’Implication Conjointe des Entreprises (Building secure employment through job training and corporate partnerships) A project to develop innovative solutions to job access and security for disadvantaged groups EDIFICE Transnational p ������ ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿ NEWSANALYSIS Tackling the issue Diabetes is a growing health threat that is best tackled through a multidisciplinary approach, writes John Bowis D iabetes is a current and growing health threat within the EU. It is a serious chronic condition that affects over 25 million people in the EU alone, a WORLD DIABETES DAY John Bowis is a member of the committee on the environment, public health and food safety They must learn the complexities of diabetes and how to manage it; their daily lives will be disrupted by the need to monitor blood glucose levels, take medication and to balance the effect EU Patient and Workplace Safety Paul De Raeve, RN, RGN, MSc, MQA, Mphil/PhD EFN Secretary General President INGO Council of Europe Health Grouping T he European Federation of Nurses Associations (EFN) has patient safety high on its professional agenda. Although the European Commission, the Council ��� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ���� ������� ���� ������ ������ �� NEWSANALYSIS Unite for diabetes Despite its alarming human toll, claiming as many lives as HIV/Aids, there is an “extraordinary” lack of awareness of the global scale of the diabetes threat. Martin Banks reports O n 20 December last year, the general assembly of the United Nations passed a la WORLD DIABETTES DAY “The invitation to national governments to develop plans and policies for diabetes prevention and care based on sustainable development of their health care systems will have a significant impact and strengthen our case” – Dr Anil Kapur, WDF “The global diabetes walk is WINS – Women into Non-Traditional Sectors Supported by the European Social Fund under the EQUAL Community Initiative Programme What is WINS? Belfast City Council has developed and led the Women into Non-Traditional Sectors (WINS) Project to tackle occupational segregation and improve employabili Amicale du Nid “Se reconstruire et s’insérer” (Self-rehabilitation for inclusion) Project “Se reconstruire et s’insérer” (Selfrehabilitation for inclusion) is a project run within the framework of the Equal programme by Amicale du Nid, an association for the support and reintegration A vital transformation has been noted by all actors and observers, in terms of prostitution: the trend toward diversification of the sources of immigration noted over the past two decades and analysed as concerns both its causes and its consequences. The globalisation of prostitution should therefor PES COUNCIL Getting involved Voters must be included in the debate over the political agenda for the 2009 European parliament elections, argues Poul Nyrup Rasmussen S omething very exciting is happening at this year’s biggest gathering of European socialists and social democrats – the PES cou NEWSANALYSIS Party time • The Party of European Socialists council, with some 300 participants from over 28 countries, plus PES activists and guests, is the biggest and most important gathering of European socialists and social democrats this year. • The event, which takes place in Sofia, Bulga P ORTUGUESE EQUAL P ROJECT S OCIAL D IALOGUE AND E QUALITY IN C OMPANIES – A S TEP FORWARD FOR G ENDER E QUALITY IN C OMPANIES Signing of the protocol of association between companies and the project, Lisbon, 10 April 2007 G ender equality means equal visibility, power and participation of men NEWSANALYSIS Healthy body healthy mind More needs to be done to ensure that children have the opportunity – and the inclination – to develop through sport, argues Pál Schmitt A ccording to a study carried out two years ago, one in every four European adolescents, or nearly 14 million childre SPORT IN EDUCATION | Pál Schmitt Olympic fencing gold medallist Pál Schmitt is vice-president of the committee on culture and education diseases and spinal problems. At the same time, these diseases significantly increase the cost of health care. According to a study analysing the situation of p Employment for people living with psychological disorders. I n 2004, players in the fields of health, social issues, business and integration into employment met to discuss their shared observation that the existing solutions for assisting people with psychological disorders in finding and retaini PROFILE | Jan Olbrycht Text appeal Jan Olbrycht talks to Matt Williams about working with the regions, his recent Parliament Magazine award and his fascination with text messages J an Olbrycht’s background as a lecturer of sociology means that he has been fascinated by the recent election resul NEWSANALYSIS and trying to plan what sort of cohesion policy we should adopt in the future, after 2015. To what extent should it be developed? Should we reduce it? Does it really work? I personally believe that it is very important. It motivates people, because the possibility of getting European f Under the Chinese Roof 2000 years of architectural models from the Henan Museum Royal Museums of Art and History 28/09/07 20/04/08 Parc du Cinquantenaire, Brussels www.rmah.be +32 (0)2 741 72 11 NEWSANALYSIS Execution by hunger After a written declaration last March failed to make it through parliament, MEPs are preparing for another attempt to get the Ukrainian famine recognised as a genocide. Sarah Collins reports A s Ukrainian politicians negotiate a new governing coalition, EPP deput “EQUALITY-CITIZENSHIP ENTERPRISE FOR DIVERSITY”: mobilisation of everyone involved in the fight against discrimination affecting employment in Hérault Multi-phase means that it comprises three modules: • commitment to the procedure: this is the phase leading up to the procedure, in which the POLICY FOCUS: EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES 32 The time has come to put into action the ideas and initiatives fostered by the European year of equal opportunities for all, says Vladimír Å pidla 35 Pascale Charhon looks back at the achievements of 2007’s European year of equal opportunities for all, and ide EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES | Vladimír Å pidla Stand up for your rights The time has come to put into action the ideas and initiatives fostered by the European year of equal opportunities for all, says Vladimír Å pidla W ith the 2007 European Year of equal opportunities for all (EYEO) drawing to a clos POLICYFOCUS Previous European years have proved effective in raising people’s awareness of political issues and improving the visibility of the latter in the eyes of decision makers. The European year against racism in 1997 helped bring about some major political advances at European level – no ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿ POLICYFOCUS Equality assessment Pascale Charhon looks back at the achievements of 2007’s European year of equal opportunities for all, and identifies key issues that must now be followed up A s the 2007 European year of equal opportunities draws to an end and the European commission reflects on EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES | ENAR Pascale Charhon is the director of the European network against racism the year, lack of clarity in terms of the selection procedures for projects and the awarding of grants, and amounts of co-financing required formed barriers to participation. In contrast, in other mem “ A Work in Czech Project social work with clients. These entail courses in Czech, PC skills, employment integration, and special motivational courses. The job of language courses is to improve clients’ language abilities. As a result, a new method for language learning has been developed that POLICYFOCUS Time for equal access The challenge at the end of the European year of equal opportunities is how best to ensure everyone has equal access to goods and services, says Jean Lambert B eing unable to catch a cab because you rely on a guide dog, being refused cancer treatment because youâ EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES | Daphne Programme More money for less violence Lissy Gröner discusses how programmes like Daphne III are helping to define a clear EU budget line to combat violence against women V iolence happens every second. Women, young people and children all over the world are undergoi POLICYFOCUS a budget increase to over €116m, which also reflects the recognition of the importance and the achievements of the programme. As rapporteur for the Daphne II and III programmes, and together with all the NGOs and women’s organisations, we will keep up the pressure at European level ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿ ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿ EQUAL-project “In de LIFT” Competence based learning within companies By analyzing the workplace and the prior acquired competences of the participant, an individual learning path, which will lead to a qualifi cation, is created for each participant. Within each company, an experienced employee POLICYFOCUS Human traffic The alarming increase in the trade in human beings is one of the pressing political, social and economic problems associated with the process of globalisation, writes Anna Záborská T he first EU day against trafficking and forced prostitution has been declared as 18 Oc EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES | Sexual Exploitation Anna Záborská is chairperson of the European parliament’s committee on women’s rights and gender equality The definition of trafficking used in the UN protocol to prevent and suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially of women and childre COMBI approach offers development opportunities for long-time unemployed people and low skilled workers in the Netherlands The Employment Scheme is now seen as a Philips contribution to ‘socially responsible entrepreneurship’, particularly since Philips states that the Employment Scheme is desig ILTOF – Innovative Learning and Training of Fracture A common European perspective on Structural Safety Actions ILTOF sets up an innovative training action in terms of both content and methodology. The developed courses contain not only traditional content, but also exchange of practices, experien SPECIAL REPORT: ENERGY 50 The commission’s internal market legislative package on energy has the right balance of regulation and competence, writes Angelika Niebler 53 The EU is well placed to lead the development of new energy policies based on renewable sources, says Jo Leinen 57 Claude Turmes t ENERGY | Internal Market Energy mix The commission’s internal market legislative package on energy has the right balance of regulation and competence, writes Angelika Niebler T he European commission’s internal market legislative package on energy is currently the top priority on the agenda o SPECIALREPORT between a strong regulation within the member states and adequate competences from Brussels. For example, it is essential that the national regulators receive extended powers, while being fully independent of national governments and industry. Wisely the commission proposal includes t ������� ������� ������� � �� ��� �� ������� ������� ������� ���� ������� ������� ������� ������� ������� ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿ SPECIALREPORT Green pioneers The EU is well placed to lead the development of new energy policies based on renewable sources, says Jo Leinen T he project of European integration started off with energy collaboration – the European treaties on coal and steel (European coal and steel community) a ENERGY | Jo Leinen Future fuel The proposal for a €470m fuel cells and hydrogen joint technology initiative (JTI) was recently adopted by the European commission. R&D in hydrogen fuel and fuel cells has received increasing levels of funding from EU framework programmes, from €8m in the second f HYVOLUTION Non-thermal production of pure hydrogen from biomass HYVOLUTION is an EC-funded project aimed to develop a blue print for an industrial bioprocess for de-central hydrogen production from biomass. HYVOLUTION’s non-thermal bioprocess enables the small scale conversion of a broad range of SPECIALREPORT A question of priorities Claude Turmes tells Matt Williams about the limitations of the so-called hydrogen economy W “I am quite astonished that, while I am being informed by car engineers that hydrogen is not the top priority, the EU is investing a lot of money into hydrogen cars ENERGY | Hydrogen Target practice • In 2006, the average new car sold in the EU emitted 160g of CO2 per kilometre • The European commission has called for average emissions from new cars to be reduced by 2012 to 130g of CO2 per kilometre by technical improvements to engines and to further reduc GenHyPEM: hydrogen production using water electrolysis Figure 1: Some members of the GenHyPEM consortium efficient 1000 Nliter H 2 / hour water electrolysers and at reducing production costs are considered in the course of the project : (a) the development of alternative lowcost membrane electrode European Community initiative EQUAL project Integration of people with mental disturbances and psychiatric illnesses in the labour market LV 1 Participants: • • • • • • • • • • • • • State Ltd. „Riga Centre for psychiatry and Addiction disorders” (Former Mental Health G PROJECT NAME INTEGRATION OF PEOPLE WITH MENTAL DISTURBANCES AND PSYCHIATRIC ILLNESSES IN THE LABOUR MARKET Objectives of the Project • Integration of Persons with serious mental problems (schizophrenia etc.) in labor market, society • Support of changing process of Mental Health care system (f CIVIL PROTECTION | Rapid Response Modern challenges Climate change, terrorist threats and industrial risks are stretching our capacity to cope effectively with disasters, warns Pia Bucella N atural and man-made disasters have always posed threats to countries and communities, forcing them to take INSIDEEU However there is a continuous need to improve the system and to reduce environmental and economic damage through more timely and effective interventions. Following the tsunami in December 2004, both the European parliament and the council called on the commission to explore ways of develop Progress GB Developing Routes to Integration and Inclusion for Migrants in the UK Labour Market S ince 2005 the Progress GB EQUAL Development Partnership has been working to address the barriers to appropriate employment for refugees and migrant workers in the UK labour market. Through eleven sepa INSIDEEU Fully equipped? It’s time the EU equipped itself with the proper means to do battle against natural disasters, argues Maria Candelas Sánchez Miguel E ach year fires rage through Europe’s southern forests. This year Greece bore the brunt, with 79 people killed, immense amounts of dam CIVIL PROTECTION | European Economic & Social Committee Second Civil Protection Forum With natural and manmade disasters on the increase, the debate on how to prevent, prepare for and respond to disasters is high on the EU’s agenda. The second civil protection forum being held in Brussels on Nove Equal at work – it pays In Poland the United Nations Development Programme proves that shared UN and EU care for socially excluded people can bring real benefits if the two organizations team up. Give yourself a job – Ecochance The project in innovative way supports people living with HIV and fo professional opportunities available for them, they very often stay isolated, getting excluded from the society. MISARN creates an eff ective support system for them, their families and also for professionals like government’s representatives, jobcoaches, teachers, NGOs’ workers. The project dev CIVIL PROTECTION | Committee of the Regions Rapid response European governments have let down their citizens by failing to respond rapidly and efficiently to natural disasters, says Michel Delebarre T he fires in Greece, Italy, Spain and Bulgaria, the floods in the UK, Hurricane Dean in Martiniqu INSIDEEU “When confronted this summer with 12 requests for activation, the EU failed to provide an adequate response” organisation, mobilisation of resources, etc.) and recovery and follow-up measures. Every step of the strategy should include information, training and citizen-awareness measure Terrestrial Trunked Radio: The global standard for professional mobile radio communications TETRA is the mobile voice and data technology standard of choice for mission critical and other professional users in 95 countries throughout the world. The majority of countries in Europe have or are current INSIDEEU Coordination is crucial National governments must learn to put aside their differences and work together to better manage natural disasters, warns Gerardo Galeote L ast year, natural disasters (floods, drought, fires, earthquakes and hurricanes) affected 254 million people worldwide. In Equal project Ict-STER: a big success in the Netherlands at getting more girls interested in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Antoinette Taillie, Project Manager VHTO, Amsterdam, The Netherlands VHTO has managed to get fifteen parties working together in the Equal project Ict-STER for INSIDEEU The European dimension Recent fires and violent floods, in particular in Greece and the United Kingdom, have provided an unnecessary reminder of the need to boost the debate on EU civil protection, says Dimitris Papadimoulis P arliament has clearly stated its desire to substantially impr EQUAL in Ireland – Promoting Equality of Opportunity Michael Ahern TD, Minister for Innovation Policy opening the EQUAL Conference, From Practice to Policy: Promoting Equality in the Labour Market. Crucially, the EQUAL response to these issues has been based on a crosssectoral partnership approach INSIDEEU Failure is not an option MEP and former astronaut Umberto Guidoni explains why the EU cannot afford to be absent in key areas of space technology O ne of the EU’s key space initiatives is developing the Galileo satellite navigation system, which will provide accurate positioning data a GALILEO | Funding Waiting for Galileo Galileo, the European satellite navigation system, is currently five years behind schedule, according to the European commission. In Strasbourg last month, the European parliament voted to boost funding for the project by an extra €739m, in order to have the BIENVENUE EN PROVENCE CÔTE D’AZUR Imagine... An enthusiastic and devoted teaching team, the warmth of a Provençal homestay and the magic of the Mediterranean coast! • A bright, air-conditioned school • Palm trees, olive trees and mimosa • A typical south of France setting. ELFCA 66 aven INSIDEEU Cosmic controversy Galileo should not be reduced to a simple tool for the easier motion of motor vehicles around the world, says Czech MEP and former cosmonaut Vladimír Remek A fter the October vote in the plenary in Strasbourg I very often have been asked the question whether it is cor GALILEO | Strategy In March 1978, Vladimír Remek became the first person from a country other than the Soviet Union or the US to make a space flight Galileo today and don’t get the project operational, in spite of the fact that the inclusion of the private sector has failed, we lose more than w European Federation of Nursing Regulators: Towards a Code of Ethics and Conduct for Nurses in an ever closer Union Prof. Loredana Sasso, President Dr. Theodoros Koutroubas, Senior Policy Adviser T he European Federation of Nursing Regulators (FEPI) is a federation of competent authorities that reg �� ��� ������� ������� � �� ������� ��� �� �� �� �� �� �� ������� � ������� � ������� ������� ������� �� �� ����ï