Brussels, 28/09/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 28 September Vladimír Špidla, the European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities gave a boost to the first-ever European-wide job fair. On 29 and 30 September, over 450 events are taking place simultaneously in nearly 300 European towns and cities as part of the first-ever European-wide job fair. The event is being organised under the banner of the EU's European Year of Workers' Mobility (2006). It also aims to highlight new opportunities for citizens, encouraging them to live and work in other European countries and professions, a phenomenon which is still too marginal, according to the Commissioner. There will be job fairs in all 25 EU countries, as well as Romania, Bulgaria, Iceland and Norway. Activities include meetings with employers and recruiters, workshops on moving abroad, information points on mobility and access to EURES - the European Job Mobility Portal - and its advisers. As well as job opportunities across Europe, visitors will be able to find out practical information about how to move to another country or region. The European Mobility Bus Roadshow, which left Paris on September 22nd, will be in Helsinki on 29-30 September, offering visitors the chance to check out job opportunities through the EURES internet portal. Its next stops are Riga (3 October); Warsaw (6 October); Prague (9 October); Pecs, Hungary (12 October); Milan (16 October) and Brussels in front of the Berlaymont Building (19 October). Just 2% of Europeans currently live in an EU country other than their country of origin - a situation largely unchanged over the last 30 years. Average job duration is 10.6 years in the EU - in the US, it is 6.7. Despite this cool response, almost 60% of European workers say that they are interests in gaining experience abroad, explained Commissioner Špidla, who drew on public figures recently released in a Eurobarometer study. However, the Commissioner recognised that there were still too many obstacles discouraging workers, such as different social security systems, accommodation difficulties, language problems and recognition of qualifications. He called for the creation of a “mobility culture in Europe”. The Commissioner deplored the fact that although there are 17 million unemployed in Europe, 3 million vacancies remain unfilled due to lack of candidates. He is already considering a follow-up to this jobs fair with the holding of a ”European Employment Day” in autumn 2007. He concluded that initiatives are necessary for mobility to become something quite normal, where all European citizens should at least once in their careers gain work experience in another Member State. (Info: http: //europa.eu.int/workersmobility2006 et http: //http://www.emploi-international.org ).