The Greek Presidency has a lot on its plate

Southern Europeans share a common secret, so genuine, that even scientists attest to its veracity: good food for better living! The Mediterranean diet, which encapsulates this essence, is worth promoting. The Greek Presidency has decided to offer its guests Greek cuisine delicacies and acquaint them with Mediterranean living.

From Spain to Cyprus

It may sound a commonplace to say that scientific and technological breakthroughs can change our lives and the way we perceive ourselves and the world around us, but they can also help bring about sustainable growth, create new specialisations and jobs. Coupled with smart specialisation strategies that build on existing knowledge- and productive-based capacities of regions, they can form a powerful tool to exit Europe from the crisis and lay the ground for accruing competitive advantages in the globalized market.

The area of Freedom, Security and Justice has brought about some of the most profound changes in the EU over the last two decades. It is a policy field with direct influence on everyday life, as it was created to safeguard the free movement of persons and to offer a high level of protection to citizens. Introduced by the Maastricht Treaty in 1993, judicial cooperation in criminal matters ensures safety for EU citizens within the area of Freedom, Security and Justice by helping prevent and combat crime.

While it is a fact that after the digital revolution more and more people increasingly turn to digital jobs and the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry in the European Union shows a positive growth of about 120,000 new jobs per year, technology companies face a critical shortfall of talented ICT experts. This contradictory picture reveals a mismatch between the skills on offer and those in demand in today's fast developing technology market.