European Union

The summer's extreme heat, drought and fires has lifted the environment to become the second most important political issue among Swedish voters one month ahead of general election, according to a new Demoskop survey published by Swedish daily Expressen. Some 23 percent of voters consider immigration to be the most important issue, but 16 percent now view the environment as the most important, ahead of healthcare at 13 percent.

Hundreds of migrant farmworkers walked off tomato fields in Foggia in southern Italy on Wednesday protesting their working conditions after two road accidents killed 16 African workers. The accidents happened when lorries carrying tomatoes collided with vans carrying the labourers home after their day's work. Interior minister Matteo Salvini reacted by declaring war on the mafia networks exploiting foreign agricultural workers, saying they had benefited from "uncontrolled immigration".

Germany announced on Wednesday a new agreement with Spain that migrants who are already registered there will be refused entry at the German border and deported within 48 hours. Similar talks with Italy and Greece are underway. Spain has become the new preferred route for migrants attempting to reach Europe in recent months, but does not share any direct borders with Germany.

With European elections coming up in May 2019, you probably want to know how the European Union impacts your daily life, before you think about voting. In the latest in a series of posts on what Europe does for you, your family, your business and your wellbeing, we look at what Europe does for hairdressers.

The hairdressing sector in Europe employs more than a million people. Together with other owners of small and medium-sized companies, as a hairdresser you can benefit from the EU’s small business-friendly legislation. You can access EU-backed loans for small businesses and European market information. Enterprise Europe Network makes it easier to find a new business partner in Europe. Moreover, EU laws allow EU countries to apply reduced value added tax rates to various services, including hairdressing. This reduction, if applied, helps to increase profit margins for the sector.

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© JackF / Fotolia

It is estimated that there are around 400 000 hairdressing salons in the EU. Customers tend to view salons as safe and relaxing places, probably not realising that for hairdressers themselves the workplace can, in fact, be very harmful. According to the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), exposure to chemicals and the nature of hairdressing work more generally can lead to various skin and respiratory diseases, chronic pain, physical injuries and even cancer.

The EU has already funded two projects focused on researching and implementing the prevention of occupational skin diseases in the hairdressing sector – SafeHair 1.0 (2010) and SafeHair 2.0 (2011). In addition, there is a growing body of EU occupational safety and health legislation that aims to protect all people, including hairdressers, from exposure to dangerous substances and other health threats at work.

Further information

• The Small Business Act for Europe, http://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/business-friendly-environment/small-business-act_en
• European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) report on ‘Occupational health and safety in the hairdressing sector’, 2014, https://osha.europa.eu/en/tools-and-publications/publications/literature_reviews/occupational-health-and-safety-in-the-hairdressing-sector
• European Commission, VAT rates applied in the Member States of the EU, 2018, https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/sites/taxation/files/resources/documents/taxation/vat/how_vat_works/rates/vat_rates_en.pdf
• EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service: www.epthinktank.eu

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