The Workers' Group of the European Economic and Social Committee is deeply concerned by the tenor of the recent Hungarian law essentially dismantling freedom of the press and freedom of expression, or at best subjecting these rights to strict government control.

The Workers' Group of the European Economic and Social Committee salutes the courage of the Tunisian people, who brought about the fall of the totalitarian and corrupt regime that was violating human rights for more than twenty years in Tunisia. However the Group is still preoccupied by the current situation.

Presentation delivered by Teodora Krumova (Center Amalipe, Bulgaria) on the occasion of the public hearing 'Education and training: tools for Roma integration' on 14 January 2011 in the EESC building in Brussels.

Presentation delivered by Isídro Rodríguez (Director, Fundación Segretariato Gitano, Spain) on the occasion of the public hearing 'Education and training: tools for Roma integration' on 14 January 2011 in the EESC building in Brussels.

Speech delivered by Olöf Ólafsdóttir (Director of Education and Languages, Council of Europe) on the occasion of the public hearing 'Education and training: tools for Roma integration' on 14 January 2011 in the EESC building in Brussels.

Speech delivered by Oana Mizil (Member of the Parliament, Foreign Affairs Committee of the Socialist Party, Romania) on the occasion of the public hearing 'Education and training: tools for Roma integration' on 14 January 2011 in the EESC building in Brussels.

Presentation delivered by Dr. Melinda Horváth (Hungarian Presidency to the EU) on the occasion of the public hearing 'Education and training: tools for Roma integration' on 14 January 2011 in the EESC building in Brussels.

The 'Eurovignette Directive' allows Member States to charge heavy lorries for the use of some parts of the European road infrastructure. The proposal to revise this Directive, known as 'Eurovignette II', aims to allow Member States to charge heavy lorries on the basis of 'external costs' of air and noise pollution. The revision of the Directive should enable Member States to better manage traffic on the biggest major roads by allowing a wider variation of toll rates. It also encourages the reinvestment of revenue from the additional charges in projects designed to make transport more environmentally friendly. The Eurovignette II Directive is expected to become law in early 2011. Beyond this, there will be challenges linked to the application of the principle of internalisation of external cost to other modes of transport. The long term objective should be the establishment of a fair charging system which would allow all transport operators to be charged proportionately to the real costs to society and environment that they cause. In its opinion of December 2009 regarding the charging of heavy lorries (Rapporteur: Mr Dantin), the EESC stressed that 'a policy on the charging of external costs must be extended to all modes of transport'. The seminar has two objectives: firstly, to review progress made to date regarding internalisation of external costs (including the Eurovignette II Directive), and secondly to consider the options for applying the 'polluter pays' principle to all modes of transport at the regional and European levels. This seminar is co-organised by the Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society (TEN) of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and the Economic and Social Council of the Walloon Region (CESRW).