Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union

All Member States of the European Union face common challenges in ensuring and maintaining an adequate workforce to meet the changing and growing health needs.

More attention for appropriate participation by young people, more collaboration and scientific research and more resources for early childhood facilities. These topped the wish list of the experts at the youth conference ‘Europe de l’Enfance’. For three days, they focused on the new EU-strategy to promote and safeguard Children’s Rights and the various policy agendas in the area of child and youth policy and children’s rights.

Delegates attending the biodiversity conference at Ghent today crystallized their expectations of the international summit to be held at Nagoya in October. They emphasized that only an integrated policy with sufficient resources for co-operation, specific measures, research and communication could hope to succeed in preserving worldwide biodiversity.

In a meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs Steven Vanackere assured his colleague that Pakistan will remain high on the European agenda. "It is the intention of the European Union not only to respond to immediate needs, but also to develop a strategic approach to the situation in Pakistan", Vanackere said.

In the framework of the Belgian Presidency, a major conference was organized in Liege on various social themes and particularly pensions, in collaboration with Mrs. Laurette Onkelinx, Deputy-Prime Minister for Social Affairs.In this context, the Minister of Pensions, Michel Daerden, organized a ministerial conference on Tuesday, 7 September, on how various European pension systems and their financing have been adjusted at a time when the proportion of senior citizens is growing.

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The Informal Energy Council was held in Brussels on 6 and 7 September 2010. This informal ministerial meeting focused on three issues: consumer protection, the grid infrastructure and energy efficiency.

Speech by Secretary of State for European Affairs Olivier Chastel regarding the situation of the Roma people in Europa, European Parliament, 07/09/2010

Monsieur le président, Honorables Parlementaires,

Brussels, 7th September 2010 – The European Industrial Technologies 2010 conference is being held September 7th through 9th at the Tour & Taxis conference and exhibition centre in Brussels. Dedicated to the integration of nanotechnologies and nanosciences, materials and production technologies, the conference will bring together more than 1000 attendees including the top managers of companies and SMEs active in research, high-level EU political decision-makers and key researchers and scientists from industry and public research organisations.