|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Saturday, 7 February 2004 |
 |
|
 |
Features | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
Rising number of unemployed people in Germany by Gamini Kariyawasam from Germany The unemployment rate in Germany is still high. According to labour market experts, 4.2 million persons were jobless in November, which makes it 170,000 more than one year ago. The Federal Labour Office will publish the newest figures on 4.12.2003, German broadcasting station ntv reports. However, the rise of unemployment is not so high as in November 2002, a development which is due to the fact that local labour offices draw up the statistics themselves, experts think. Experts also state that there will be a decline of 5,000 - 10,000 in unemployment due to seasonal developments. But no one is of the opinion that this situation will change in the near future. In October, the number of unemployed people fell to 4,151,800. However, in October 2002, that figure was lower by 222,000. In Western Germany, 2,638,000 unemployed were registered, in the East the number was 1,513,800. With regard to all working persons, the unemployment rate in the East was twice as high as in the West. EU border agency to boost controls The EU is to boost the fight against illegal immigration by setting up an agency to help manage its external borders - about to extend to Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. The new body is designed to coordinate national controls and will include experts from all 25 member states after next year's "big round" enlargement, the EU Commission announced recently. It represents a significant step forward in attempt to control entry into the EU as it will oversee all land, air and sea controls and surveillance measures. The agency will help member states to train border guards, but there are no plans to create an EU wide border guard force because of objections from Britain and others. EU governments are still wary of handing power to Brussels in an area which touches on sensitive issues including law enforcement, racial questions and national security. Last month they shelved plans they feared they could to the commission fixing quotas of legal immigrants and moved to speed up repatriation accorded with African and Asian countries. Britain, though not a member of the Schengen borderless area inside the EU, is backing the agency, which is also intended to coordinate the "removal of third country nationals illegally residing in the EU". Other proposals under discussion by the EU interior ministers include drawing up of controversial lists of "safe countries" to which illegal immigrants and failed asylum seekers can be returned. The commission was at pains to stress that the staff of the EU Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders would have no law enforcement powers in member states and would not itself operate any frontier controls. But the move underlines how combating illegal immigration has become a priority, with Italy and Spain in particular struggling to contain an influx from the Balkans and North Africa. Only recently the EU concluded a deal under which Albania would accept the return of immigrants found to have crossed its territory. Activity is being stepped up now because the eight Eastern European countries joining the EU next May will need to improve border controls when they become the EU's frontline in tackling immigration from the East and South. It is much harder to track illegal immigrants once they are inside the EU's borders, particularly once they reach countries such as the UK which - for the time being - have no identity cards and therefore less effective checking systems. The new agency, due to begin work in 2005, will initially employ 30 people on a budget of Euro 6 m. German movie "Goodbye Lenin" wins many prizes The German movie "Goodbye Lenin", a comedy by Wolfgang Becker, is the first German movie to win the European Movie Award. The film won 6 prizes in different categories, which makes it the triumphant winner of this year's "European Oscar" ceremony in Berlin. As early as July, the melancholic-satirical comedy about the former GDR had won the German Movie Award. Main Actor Daniel Bruhl won the "Best European Actor" award. Other prizes were allocated to fellow actor Katrin Sass, director Wolfgang Becker and script writer Bernd Lichtenberg. The film will also represent Germany at the next "Oscar" awards in the USA. Until now, the movie has been exported to 68 countries. More than 6.5 million Germany saw the movie. Ban on aircraft noise pollution upheld EU regulators last week threw out a Swiss request to overturn German noise-prevention measures that have restricted landings at Zurich airport. The airport is 15 kilometres or 9 miles from the German border and most flights approach from the North over German territory. Airport noise has been a cause for dispute between the countries since a new runway was built in 1976. This year, Germany imposed restrictions on its airspace effectively banning night landings at Zurich by the northern approach. Switzerland appealed to the European Commission, claiming that the restrictions violated its aviation agreement with the EU. But the EU rejected the complaint, saying that the noise reduction measures were justified. Controversy about German Holocaust memorial in Berlin According to German TV magazine "Tagesschau", the construction works of the Holocaust memorial in Berlin continue despite recent controversies about a company involved in the construction. Reason for the recent argument is the delicate past of the Degussa firm which provides a chemical intended to protect the memorial against graffiti. During the Nazi regime in Germany, an affiliate of Degussa produced the poisonous "Zyklon B" gas used to kill millions of Jews in German extermination camps. Headed by Parliamentary President Wolfgang Thierse, the memorial's curatorium has decided to order the protective chemical from another company. As soon as all technical, legal and financial questions are solved, the curatorium will decide which firm they will entrust with the order. 60 years after the end of WWII, the memorial will be build according to plans by US architect Peter Eisenmann. It will be inaugurated on 08.05.2005. The costs for the memorial, including a subterranean information center, will amount to 27 million Sterling Pounds, which will be paid by the state of Germany. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
