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PAGE EUROPEAN REVIEW
THE NEED FOR THE EUROPEAN UNION authorities to open up more channels of communication with the citizens of Europe is often commented upon. Now the interactivity of the internet is to be harnessed to provide information on a range of rights and opportunities in Europe. Among the subjects are: living, working, studying and travelling in other EU countries; buying goods and services across the EU; equal opportunities; data protection; and settling cross-border financial services disputes. The new 'Dialogue with Citizens' portal will provide links to over 1,300 national fact sheets as well as a variety of online and telephone problem-solving facilities. The web site should be capable of putting citizens in touch with advisors speaking all of the EU's 20 official languages.
Unfortunately when the European Review tried the portal it quickly became apparent that not all the links were working as they should, although this was more apparent on a Macintosh computer. After a glossy front page the English section starts with an awkwardly spaced lay-out: a set of drop down menus on the left provide access to topics such as living, working or studing in another EU country while information on individual Member States includes taxation, employment and social security. Tbe section on useful addresses will find contact details for national organisations in charge of consumer protection, driving licences and a host of other services, though, once again the link was often replaced by the 'linguistic version not available' notice. Links do work to other Commission advice services Europe Direct, Citizens' Signpost and Solvit. They aim to help users by answering any questions about the EU by telephone, by providing free legal advice and by giving information on how to redress incorrect decisions made by national authorities.
According to the Internal Market Commissioner Frits Bolkestein 'This new site uses modern technology to give people targeted information that helps them enhance their lives by taking advantage of their rights in the EU Internal Market'. It seems there will have to be some technical and content upgrading before this aim is realised.
Web pages mentioned on this page are available at :
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Dialogue with Citizens - Front page: | |
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- English index page: | |
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- Europe Direct: | |
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- Citizens' signpost: |
http://europa.eu.int/citizensrights/signpost/front_end/signpost_en.htm |
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- Solvit: | |
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USDAW - Home page: | |
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- Manual handling guide |
http://www.usdaw.org.uk/getactive/resource_library/ |
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MANUAL HANDLING IS THE MOST common cause of accidents and ill-health in the workplace. In sectors such as retail and distribution, manual handling accounts for an even higher proportion of injuries because of the lifting and carrying involved. It is therefore, not surprising that shop-workers' union USDAW gives this hazard a high priority; now they have added a guide to their web site which is available for download. The 12 page booklet includes an outline of the law, explanations of the physical reasons for handling injuries and check lists and techniques such as body-mapping for use by safety reps. It can be viewed or downloaded as a portable document format file (pdf). |
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