Brussels, 22/08/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 29-30 September the first European jobs fair will take place. More than 200 cities will take part and highlight job opportunities for European citizens. This event is one of the major activities planned in the “European Year of Workers' Mobility” as designated by the European Commission for 2006. This big jobs fair will include participation by the 25 Member States of the EU, as well as Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, and will be organised in a series of activities in different cities. The fair will go beyond the traditional information stands and workshops. Fairs will take place in Leipzig, Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Brussels, Poznan, Marseilles, “Euro villages” in three Irish regions, “Job Tours” in the UK (Belfast, Edinburgh, Oxford and Cardiff), Job Days in 15 cities in the Czech Republic, Mobility Theatre evening in Liège, Belgium, “Job Fairs in the Island” (Reunion, Martinique, Azores). There will also be a mobility bus touring 9 EU countries, leaving Paris on September 22 and returning to Brussels on 17 October. Its itinerary includes Kiel, Helsinki, Riga, Warsaw, Prague, Budapest and Milan. The European Commission hopes that the “European Years of Workers' Mobility” will support the efforts of the European Union in promoting jobs of the best quality and that it helps develop a genuine European labour market.
Mobility rates in the EU remain relatively low despite the enlargement of the new Member States in 2004, and the free movement of workers, as pointed out by the European Citizen Action Service (ECAS) on 31 July, has still not happened. Eurostat showed that the number of workers having changed jobs in 2005 throughout the EU did not exceed 10%. The average duration of employment is of 10.6 years in Europe, while workers in the USA stay in the same job for about 6.7 years. In terms of geographical mobility, studies demonstrate that only 2% of the working age population in the enlarged EU live in a Member State that is different from their country of origin. Mobility between Member States has been steadily increasing over recent years but statistics demonstrate that this level is still quite low. With the growing pressure of globalisation and the likelihood of further economic restructuring in Europe, it is expected that the flexibility of European labour markets will increase. (Info: http: //europa.eu.int/workersmobility2006).