Developments in European information issues: Networks and relays – Services – Products, April 2003

PLOTEUS launch

PLOTEUS, the Portal on Learning Opportunities throughout the European Space, was launched at the beginning of March 2003. This major new site is a partner to EURES, which offers information about job opportunities across Europe.

EURES and PLOTEUS grew out of the conclusions of the Lisbon European Council of March 2000 and the Stockholm European Council of March 2001 which encouraged the member states to develop a service that would provide information on employment and learning opportunities across the EU in order to facilitate free movement.

Though the project is managed by DG Education and Culture, the work of identifying the relevant resources was carried out by Euroguidance, the National Resources Centres for Vocational Guidance, which is a European network of 65 sites located across 31 countries and funded partly by the Leonardo programme and partly by national authorities.

The information on the site is clearly presented in five searchable sections: Learning opportunities, Education systems, Exchanges, Contacts and Moving to a country. Each section can be searched by selecting the type of information required from the drop down menus. It is possible to specify down to regional level or choose the subject you wish to study. Navigate between sections by selecting the appropriate tab. The data covers education at all levels from primary through to postgraduate and adult education. The geographic coverage too is wide and includes the existing members states, acceding countries, and Norway, Iceland and Switzerland. The project is still being developed so the content and resources should expand as work continues.

EU and Iraq

Though there was disagreement amongst EU governments about action against Iraq, there is a very helpful web page of relevant material on the Europa server at http://europa.eu.int/comm/world/iraqsit/. It makes available the various official communications, statements and speeches as well as explaining the relationship between Iraq and the EU to date. Issues such as trade relations, humanitarian aid, human rights and sanctions are covered. Additionally there are interactive and printable maps, links to UN Resolutions, texts of articles and interviews and videos. A selection of articles from a range of international press sources gives the latest developments.

Eurostat website

Eurostat launched its new home page in October 2002 at http://europa.eu.int/comm/eurostat/Public/datashop/print-catalogue/EN?catalogue=Eurostat. Below the top page however the old navigation bars remained. Now it has gone public with a new top navigation bar which reflects the arrangement of the current home page. It has the following options: themes, publications, data, metadata, activities, services, and account. Each of these headings generates the relevant drop down menu. To find the search engine, go to the blue bar at the top right of the screen. The new search page offers both a quick search and an advanced search option. When entering search terms you should not mix upper and lower case. Enter the terms either all in capitals or all in lower case. Use double inverted commas to find a phrase, otherwise the Boolean operator 'and' will be assumed between search terms. The advanced search allows you to specify which field to search and to create additional criteria by clicking on the 'more' button. You can then combine your search criteria with an 'and' or an 'or' as required.