European Identity - Individual, Group and Society - HumanitarianNet

THE CONSTRUCTION OF EUROPEAN IDENTITY THE BUSINESS FRAMEWORK 333When referring to the development of the firm as a vital organizationin society, one cannot overlook the fundamental role of education.We believe that any effort in this direction is insufficient and we arepleased with the importance the EU is granting to this issue and themeans put in the hands of all citizens. Among them, the importance ofthe “Leonardo” (Leonardo da Vinci) programme created by theEuropean Union to promote the education and vocational trainingmust be highlighted. The objectives of the programme are thefollowing:—To improve individual skills and competence, especially amongstyoung people, through initial vocational training at all levels, inorder to facilitate integration and reintegration into the labourmarket.—To improve the quality and access to lifelong vocational training,as well as to facilitate the lifelong acquisition of competence andskills.—To promote and reinforce the contribution of vocational trainingto the innovation process, so as to enhance competitiveness andentrepreneurial spirit and, hence, new job prospects.When working towards these aims, priority will be given todisadvantaged people in the labour market, including the disabled, tothe procedures facilitating their access to training, the promotion ofequality and equal opportunities between men and women and thefight against discrimination.There is a Spanish agency for such Programme, and furtherinformation about it can be accessed on the Internet.In our presentation, we cannot overlook a vital fact. We arereferring to immigration, especially that coming from developingcountries, such as all African nations, especially the Maghreb (due to itscloseness to Europe), Latin American countries and also several Asiancountries. This is a phenomenon especially affecting the business worldsince, amongst other things, due to the low or zero demographicgrowth of developed countries, employment of people from suchnations is growing. This sometimes brings about conflicts we all knowabout and should lead us to learn how to live in a multicultural societyand respect diversity, which is not always easy.According to EUROSTAT, the Statistical Office of the EuropeanCommission, in the year 2000 population in the EU has increased byjust over a million people, out of which 680 thousand come from non-EU countries and only 372 thousand come from native populationincrease. Lately, we have read in the press about the general elections