Before you leave for your deserved holidays, we want to share our last newsletter of the year 2018. We will remember this year full of laughter, fun and yes, sometimes frustration and sadness. We had to say goodbye to three members of the COFACE team, but also welcomed new faces into the family and celebrated our 60th anniversary.
We were hoping to go into the new year with a present to all families around Europe, unfortunately the adoption of the EU work-life balance directive is not yet finalised and negotiations will continue in January with a last trilogue. Read the full update in our COFACE news section and fingers crossed. Good news from the Right to Energy coalition though – a deal has been reached. We advise you to read the interview with our Spanish member organisation (ASGECO) to get more information.
2019 is the year of the European elections: we believe that every single European citizen should take up this privilege and go vote. While there is no “right” and “wrong” vote, it is important to be well-informed and reflect on one’s own values. For this occasion, we created the #EP2019 resource page, where we have gathered links to help you understand the process and make an informed choice. This page will grow over the next few months and combine information on how the EU works, what the EU does for you and explanations on the elections.
As always our newsletter contains input from all the fields we are working on: Migration (new policy brief on the migration initiatives of our members), carers (summary of an inspiring conference in Prague), disability (roundtable discussion on the challenges of people with hearing impairments) or gender equality (call to put gender equality at the core of the EU budget). Last but not least, be aware of our social media campaign #ToysandDiversity, which aims to create awareness about stereotypes when buying toys. Think beyond the usual, and embrace diversity!
Are you ready to relax? We are for sure. We will gather our strength for the next year, where we will continue to fight for a social, equal, inclusive and non-discriminatory Europe. We hope you do the same. Enjoy your holiday and happy new year.