FREE MOVEMENT: EUROPEAN YEAR FOR WORKERS' MOBILITY TO KICK OFF ON FEBRUARY 20.

• Position: Brief article

The inaugural session will be addressed by Austria's Economic Affairs and Employment Minister and acting EU President Martin Bartenstein, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, and Vladimir Spidla, the Commissioner responsible for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. The conference will also witness the launch of the new EURES platform combining no less than a million job offers from 28 countries (European Economic Area plus Switzerland). MPs and social partners will then meet for a roundtable discussion on "free movement and the functioning of transitional measures" concerning workers from new member states. Other roundtable discussions will be staged the following day.

The conference will be followed by a series of events throughout the year: a joint seminar with the United States in June looking at mobility on both sides of the Atlantic, a conference of social partners in September, the first European Job Fair (with several dozen European cities staging events simultaneously), and a seminar for law professionals in the autumn. The closing...