Since you have to involve more than one national authority, it is recommended to start the procedure a year ahead of retirement age.
Overall it is satisfactory but we hope that there will be further improvement between now and 2009.
Some studies show that while the EU has better social policy than the US, more American women are employed and more of them work in higher positions.
The parliament wants the member states themselves to decide whether sunlight is a risk or not. That's totally unacceptable for the Commission.