64. Calls on the Member States to submit national reform programmes consistent with the aim of the Platform and with the Union's objectives of social and sustainable development, and, supporting the Commission's recognition that poverty ‘is unacceptable in 21st-century Europe’, calls on them to refrain from calling into question wage indexation systems and collective labour agreements or restricting, in an unreasonable and unjustified way, their capacity for investment and social spending in the context of economic governance, whilst ensuring the sustainability of public finances and the creation of well-paid jobs, bearing in mind that p ...[+++]overty reduction is an essential corollary of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth; calls for clarification of the status of national action plans for social inclusion and, in particular, the question of their integration into national reform programmes under the Europe 2020 strategy; calls on the Commission to develop country-specific recommendations with a view to meeting the poverty reduction target, especially in the event that those programmes are not successful, bearing in mind that poverty reduction requires us to step up our efforts and mobilise all parties and all our resources to reduce poverty and extreme poverty significantly in the medium term, and to reduce greatly or eradicate poverty by 2020 at the latest; proposes that the Commission draw up guidelines at European level for the Member States so as to ensure that local authorities and other stakeholders participate effectively in the drafting of national reform programmes; notes that ‘territorial pacts’ potentially offer the most comprehensive and consistent means of involving local authorities in this process, as proposed in the Fifth Cohesion Report; believes that the Europe 2020 target of reducing the number of people at risk of poverty by 20 million can be achieved only if the austerity measures currently being taken in the EU, and those to be taken in the ...

26. Asks for European training and awareness-raising strategies regarding energy efficiency to be set up. Developing and implementing energy efficient technologies and systems requires targeted training of the workforce (builders, installers, architects, experts, manufacturers, etc.), in particular for the purposes of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive. Points out, moreover, that awareness-raising programmes need to be developed to inform consumers and SMEs on ways to reduce their energy consumption), which could be done through the combined efforts of national energy agencies and chambers of commerce; urges the Commission to ...[+++] include education on energy efficiency in the revised Energy Efficiency Action Plan;

(Return tabled) Question No. 864 Ms. Kirsty Duncan: With respect to mental health and suicide in the Canadian Forces (CF), including regular forces, reservists and veterans, as well as among Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) veterans: (a) what does history and research show from the First World War (WWI) and the Second World War (WWII), regarding the percentage of Canadian veterans who suffered some degree of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and how it might have impacted their ability to (i) hold down jobs, (ii) maintain relationships, (iii) overcome substance abuse, (iv) maintain their will to live; (b) how are suicides tracked for CF regular forces, reservists and veterans, including RCMP veterans, (i) has the tracking method ch ...[+++]anged over time (from 2000 onwards) for any of these groups, including name changes (e.g., suicide versus sudden death) and, if so, how, why and when, (ii) how are suicides tracked among veterans who may not be known to Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) and who may be under other types of care (e.g., in hospitals) or in homeless shelters, prisons, etc.; (c) what are the identified gaps in tracking for each of the identified groups and, for each gap, what action items (i) are planned (including predicted start and completion dates, and necessary funding), (ii) are being implemented (including predicted completion date and necessary funding), (iii) have been completed to address the problem; (d) how are suicides investigated for each identified group today and, for each group, for the years 1990 to the present (or years available), (i) what percentage of victims were known to either the Department of National Defense (DND) or VAC prior to the suicide, or to the medical, social-aid or prison system, (ii) what percentage had attempted suicide before, (iii) what percentage suffered from an identified Operational Stress Injury (OSI), including PTSD, anxiety, depression or substance abuse, (iv) what percentage suffered from acquired brain ...

EU funding supported projects in almost every continent and covering a range of activities from mine surveying, detection and clearance, mine destruction and demining research to assistance to victims and mine awareness programmes.

The Council notes that a key objective of the updated programme is to achieve a substantial increase in the employment rate in Belgium and to enhance economic efficiency by means of a package of reforms and policy measures; in this context, the Council welcomes the decision of the government to strengthen the effort towards reducing overall tax burden, in particular on labour.

The programme covers the travel-to-work areas (TTWA's) of Chesterfield, Gainsborough, Mansfield, Retford and Worksop; the Nottingham Urban Programme area; and those parts of the Scunthorpe and Grimsby TTWAs in Lincolnshire.