As part of the regional outreach work in the South-West of England during 2012's European Year of Active Ageing and Solidarity between the generations, staff from the Outreach team of the European Parliament Information Office in the UK will attend an event organised by the South West Seniors Network in collaboration with the South West forum on Ageing and Age UK to be held at Tauntan Conference Centre in Somerset on 30 March.

8 May at Europe House will see a range of activities organised by partner organisations to promote Europe Day (9th May) - this year's theme is the European Year of Active Ageing. Activities will take place between 4-6 pm followed by a networking reception. All welcome to attend.

A Regional Discussion Forum in the South West of England will take place during the week beginning 16 July with Members of the European Parliament.
This is a chance for key players in the business and agricultural communities across the region to engage in a series of forums with their elected representatives at European level. There will be sessions also for the general public. Details of locations and dates to be announced shortly

The headquarters of the European Parliament and the European Commission in London hosts regular exhibitions that are open to the public. Please visit the 12 Star Gallery website to find out about the exhibitions coming up in Europe House.

Staff from the European Parliament Information Office in the UK attended a meeting organised by the U3A Whitchurch, Shropshire branch which also included U3A members from neighbouring Market Drayton and Oswestry on Monday 12 March. Presentations were given by the Outreach team on the role of the European Parliament in the EU Legislative procedures and followed by a Q&A session.

Politics students at Portsmouth University heard, during an evening lecture given by a member of staff from the European Parliament Information Office in the UK, about the current challenges facing the EU - the audience were invited to take part in a question/answer session.

How far are we to closing the gender gap in pay in Europe?  On the eve of the 101st anniversary of International Women's Day, a  strong line up of female speakers, including the two London based MEPs on the  Women's Rights and Gender Equality Committee, Mary Honeyball (Lab) and Marina Yannakoudakis (Cons), the Shadow Europe Minister Emma Reynolds and the businesswoman Heather McGregor, discussed with an audience what Europe has done, is doing  or should be doing to improve gender equality in the workplace. The website Women's Views on News conducted a live forum during the event allowing its readers to pitch in questions and suggestions.

Language students  at Leeds University heard how the EU institutions work and in particular the important role interpreters play at the European Parliament at workshops organised by the Interpretation Department and assisted by the European Parliament UK Office. 23 official languages of the EU are in use at parliamentary meetings in Brussels/Strasbourg and interpreters play an essential role in the language diversity of a multi-cultural European democracy. An evening lecture open to other students at the University on current EU affairs was also given.

Legislation creating new consumer safeguards for residential mortgage credit is making its way through the European Parliament. At the end of February, members of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee voted on a report which considerably widens the scope of the initial proposals by the European Commission.

One of the shadow rapporteurs in the Committee,  Vicky Ford (Eastern, Cons) briefed participants about the current state-of-play,  listened to key stakeholders (from the industry and consumer side) as well as answered questions from the specialist media.

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