Stresses that educational institutions capable of producing skilled labour force and the next generation of scientists and innovators in the area of RES technologies is a key priority; recalls, in this connection, the important role of Horizon 2020 and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology in bridging the gap between education, research and implementation in the renewable energy sector;

At the same time, the Union recognises that migrants constitute an indispensible workforce for the EU, both in terms of responding to labour shortages in certain areas, and in terms of providing a highly qualified workforce.

At the same time, the Union recognises that migrants constitute an indispensible workforce for the EU, both in terms of responding to labour shortages in certain areas, and in terms of providing a highly qualified workforce.

Stresses that an older labour force and longer working lives can make a positive contribution to the recovery and future growth; considers that, for (older) employees performing physically and/or mentally demanding work, a dynamic labour market must offer creative solutions such as greater flexibility in the statutory retirement age, part-time pensions, adapted working conditions, encouraging lifelong learning, improving job-seeking services or movement from one job to another, to strike a lasting balance between the requirements of employment and the capacities of workers; considers there to be a need for an active policy to prevent d ...[+++]iscrimination on grounds of age by monitoring the correct implementation of Directives 2000/78/EC and 2006/54/EC and promoting a European culture of active aging ensuring that older people have a life of vitality and dignity; calls on Member States to combine penalties for labour market discrimination with incentives for employers to create an inclusive labour market; calls on the Member States, in the context of the reforms and the extension of working life and with the assistance of the Commission, to implement more effectively the directives on health and safety at work;

However, this is largely due to a steady increase in the number of people who work part-time, from 15.9 % of the workforce in 1998 to 18.2 % in 2008[9].

In a second stage, a ‘gap analysis’ will examine whether level 2 legislation implementing the conduct of business principles and other relevant provisions of MiFID represent a sufficient and effective basis governing intermediation activities in respect of investment funds.