Quantum surveillance and 'shared secrets'. A biometric step too far? CEPS Liberty and Security in Europe, July 2010

It is no longer sensible to regard biometrics as having neutral socio-economic, legal and political impacts. Newer generation biometrics are fluid and include behavioural and emotional data that can be combined with other data. Therefore, a range of issues needs to be reviewed in light of the increasing privatisation of ‘security’ that escapes effective, democratic parliamentary and regulatory control and oversight at national, international and EU levels, argues Juliet Lodge, Professor and co-Director of the Jean Monnet European Centre of Excellence at the University of Leeds, U

Large-scale Biometrics Deployment in Europe: Identifying Challenges and Threats

With large-scale biometrics deployment in the EU still in its infancy and with stakeholders racing to position themselves in view of the lucrative market that is forecasted, a study to identify challenges and threats that need to be dealt with was launched. This is the result: a report on Biometrics large-scale Deployment in Europe. The report tackles three main issues namely, the status, security / privacy and testing / certification processes. A survey was launched so as to help reveal the actual status of Biometrics large-scale Deployment initiatives in EU. The main outcome of the survey was that an open dissemination of implementation results policy is needed mainly on deployment plans, strategies, barriers and best practices. The security/ privacy challenges study identified a number of issues, the most important of which were related to proportionality and compliance to the existing regulatory framework while at the same time it revealed an important number of related actions aiming at ensuring both data security and privacy. The aim of the Bio Testing Europe study was double: to identify and collect comparable and certified results under different technologies, vendors and environments situations and to feed in this information to animate discussion among the members of a European network which would enhance the European testing and certification capacity. The study presents an integrated picture of the identified issues as well as a number of recommendations. With some of the systems that are being implemented involving millions of individuals as target users it is important for policy makers to adopt some of the options presented so as to address the identified through the study challengesJRC.J.4-Information Societ

Genderová rovnost na trhu práce v Turecku jako kandidátské země Evropské unie

This diploma thesis deals with gender equality in the labour market in Turkey as a candidate country of the European Union. The aim of this thesis is to find out and explain the differences regarding gender equality in the labour market in Turkey and the seven selected Member States of the European Union: Finland, Sweden, Slovenia, Croatia, Cyprus, Malta and Hungary. Six of these Member States were selected based on their ranking in the Global Gender Gap Index, the seventh country, Croatia, was selected as it is the newest Member State. The sub-aim is to find out if Turkey is close to fulfilling the Copenhagen Criteria to become a Member State of the European Union and how the country fulfils criteria related to gender equality.The thesis is divided into three parts. First, the theoretical part of this thesis describes basic terminology of human rights, gender equality and enlargement policy of the European Union. It also describes the concepts and definitions of human rights, the European Union’s legislation on gender equality, the European Union’s strategies for achieving gender equality and the whole process of enlargement as well as conditionality and Europeanization. The second part focuses on gender equality in Turkey itself in the context of country’s accession to the European Union and gender equality in Turkey and its strategies for achieving gender equality. It also further analyses the selected chapters of the Acquis Communautaire, the political and economic criteria of Copenhagen and the economic obstacles for Turkey’s membership in the European Union. The practical part of this thesis analyses gender equality in education, gender equality in the labour market and the gender pay gap between Turkey and the seven selected Member States of the European Union, it examines the reasons for inequality in education and in the labour market between men and women in these selected countries.Diplomová práce se zabývá genderovou rovností na trhu práce v Turecku jako kandidátské země Evropské unie. Hlavním cílem práce je zjistit a vysvětlit rozdíly genderové rovnosti na trhu práce v Turecku a v sedmi vybraných členských státech Evropské unie: Finsku, Švédsku, Slovinsku, Chorvatsku, Kypru, Malty a Maďarsku. Šest z těchto států bylo vybráno na základě jejich hodnocení v Global Gender Gap Indexu a sedmým státem je Chorvatsko, které bylo vybráno jako nejnovější členský stát. Dalším cílem je zjistit, jestli se Turecko blíží plnění Kodaňských kritérií pro vstup do Evropské unie a jak země plní kritéria související s genderovou rovností. Práce je rozdělena do tří částí. První, teoretická část popisuje základní terminologii lidských práv, genderové rovnosti a politiky rozšiřování Evropské unie. Je zde popsán koncept a definice lidských práv, legislativa a strategie Evropské unie týkající se genderové rovnosti, celý proces rozšiřování, kondicionalita a europeanizace. Druhá část se zaměřuje na genderovou rovnost v kontextu přistoupení Turecka do Evropské unie a strategii pro její dosažení. Dále analyzuje vybrané kapitoly Acquis Communautaire, posuzuje Kodaňská kritéria a ekonomické překážky Tureckého členství v Evropské unii. Praktická část analyzuje genderovou rovnost ve vzdělání, na trhu práce, v rozdílu odměnování mužů a žen mezi Tureckem a sedmi vybranými členskými státy Evropské unie a zkoumá důvody nerovnosti ve vzdělání a na trhu práce mezi muži a ženami v těchto zemích.120 - Katedra evropské integracevelmi dobř

The European struggle to educate and include Roma people: A critique of differences in policy and practice in Western and Eastern EU countries

Multiculturalism is an established feature of the UK and other European States since the establishment of the Treaty of Rome in 1959. Enlargement has brought EU membership from six (1952) to twenty eight members since its foundation, and allowed free migration across its borders. However, many countries, in spite of agreements to adhere to ‘democratic’ practices, deny minority citizens their full rights, particularly in education contexts. Some recent accession EU States have education systems that are less adaptive to expected policy responsibilities. It is a more unstable aspect of Eastern Europe because of the failure of many of these countries to reduce social and educational inequalities and to establish rights for minority groups, particularly the Roma. An educational focus is used as a platform to highlight issues re the segregation, and discrimination against, Roma children in Europe, typically through the use of special education, which is not suitable for them. Europe generally, both East and West has failed to fully integrate the Roma. Often, institutional blame is placed on Roma communities, rather than situate them socially and economically due to ingrained structural inequalities. Stereotyped categories are often used to ‘label’ them. Countries with high Roma populations, four in Western and five in Eastern Europe are evaluated and compared in relation to the education of Roma children

Managing surveillance? The impact of biometric residence permits on UK migrants

On 27 May 2010, the newly formed UK Coalition government announced the cancellation of national identity cards for UK citizens. Yet, foreign nationals remain subject to a separate biometric identity card scheme—renamed ‘Biometric Residence Permits' (BRPs)—currently being rolled out to various categories of migrant. To date, over 300,000 such cards have been issued to various foreign-national groups, including international students, visiting scholars, entrepreneurs, investors and domestic workers. Although research has been conducted on UK immigration policy, there has been little investigation into how foreign nationals view, experience and negotiate BRPs. In this paper, we draw on our own empirical work to examine the impact of BRPs on migrants. From March to December 2010, interviews and participative research were conducted with the Home Office, the UK Border Agency, advocacy and civil society groups, Higher Education Institutions and individual migrants. We consider the extent to which this scheme acts as a means of exercising surveillance and control over foreign nationals, and the ability of these migrants to negotiate around such constraints

Roma Early Childhood Inclusion Overview Report

The Roma Early Childhood Inclusion (RECI) studies and reports aim to build a comprehensive and detailed picture of the extent of early childhood provision and services, available to Romani families. The studies have been carried out in five countries—Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Romania and Serbia—and  endeavour to identify the major obstacles that Romani families face in accessing high-quality, socially inclusive, early childhood care and education. More generally, the studies and reports deliver data and information about communities that are often ignored or misrepresented by official statistics, government policies, ministerial strategies and plans for spending.As previous studies carried out by Open Society Foundations have shown—No Data—No Progress, 2010—the lack of reliable data hampers any attempt to measure the impact of government or international NGO intervention. Planning services and allocating resources to Romani communities are the consequence of "guesswork" rather than knowledge and careful study. The Roma Early Childhood Inclusion reports present a distillation of the most recent and reliable data to be had, in these circumstances, drawn from the actual communities themselves, through interviews and focus groups. Government strategies, policies and action plans are all assessed in this context; what has been the effect of the initiatives aimed at improving the economic and social position for Romani families, in these countries?This Overview Report draws upon data from the five country studies, carried out by Romani and non-Romani researchers working together, to present what are the themes and topics of most relevance to families and young children in settlements and neighbourhoods across central, eastern and south-eastern Europe. A profound lack of equality of access and services, beset by numerous obstacles, characterizes the overall picture, for Roma. The numbers of Romani children that have access to good quality, early childhood education and care provision or who can participate in community and home-based learning programmes, remains minimal in comparison with the surrounding, majority populations.The desperate need for Romani children to be able to access, at least for two years, high-quality, socially inclusive, early childhood education and care services and benefit from effective home visiting and community-based early childhood development (ECD) programmes, is a particular theme throughout the report. This is a minimum requirement that the partner organizations (UNICEF, Open Society Foundation's Early Childhood Program and Roma Education Fund) advocate for at national and international levels, if progress is to be made in improving education outcomes for Romani children.The scale of the changes that need to be undertaken in order to provide equal opportunity for Romani children and families requires that national governments and international institutions (such as the Council of Europe, the European Commission and the European Union's Parliament) act, following the recommendations that these reports deliver