Press release, 18 January 2006
The Foundation's work programme for 2006:
Accent on job creation, mobility, better working conditions and work–life balance in 2006
Access to good quality jobs for all workers is a central policy concern in the European Union. The Foundation’s 2006 work programme will focus on this priority issue, while also dealing with the related issues of employment creation and retention, mobility of workers and their families, working time arrangements and work–life balance. Key tasks for 2006 include making an input into the 2006 European Year of Workers’ Mobility, and presenting findings from the fourth European Working Conditions Survey and the Company Survey on Working Time and Work-life Balance. Finally, in November 2006, the Foundation will host the third Foundation Forum, entitled ‘Competitive Europe, Social Europe – partners or rivals?’.
‘The Foundation is in a strong position to contribute to the improvement of living and working conditions for all Europeans,’ affirms Jorma Karppinen, Director of the Foundation, the Dublin-based EU agency. ‘We have identified themes for our 2006 work programme that increasingly affect our lives in the competitive global environment. The results of our work will feed into the debate and provide policymakers with information that could ultimately lead to an enhanced quality of life for all European citizens.’
The Foundation will continue to provide data through its monitoring instruments and surveys, which have proved very effective in building a picture of life in the 25 Member States, as well as in Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia and Turkey. Initial findings will be presented from the 2005 European Working Conditions Survey, with further analyses being carried out on selected topics. Findings from the Company Survey on Working Time will be released in the first quarter of the year. At the same time, preparations for the second European Quality of Life Survey will get underway. In addition to weekly news releases from the European Industrial Relations Observatory (EIRO) website, EIRO will feature an industrial relations profile of each Member State. The Industrial Relations Annual Report will present a comparison between current developments in Europe and its major competing economies. The European Monitoring Centre on Change (EMCC) will publish its first annual report on restructuring in Europe.
Information from the monitoring activities will be supplemented by in-depth studies of ‘what works’. An in-depth study of temporary agency work from the point of view of industrial relations will be published at the beginning of the year. The Foundation will then unveil a major study and database on Employment Initiatives for the Ageing Workforce. Other studies will look at employment opportunities in childcare, the ‘attractive workplace’ as a way for companies to contribute to the Lisbon strategy, and strengthening the capacity for social dialogue in the new Member States.
The Foundation will use a number of thematic campaigns – on mobility, work-life balance and quality of work – to diffuse its message in 2006. The newly launched twice-yearly magazine, Foundation Focus, will devote the two issues for 2006 to the ageing workforce and equal opportunities. A new policy-oriented publication, Foundation Findings, will be launched in the spring. As 2005 saw a huge increase - by one third - in the number of web user sessions to the Eurofound website, the planned integration of the Foundation’s separate web activities in 2006 under one common ‘Eurofound’ banner should make the site even more user-friendly.
Download the programme of work 2006
For further information, contact:
- Måns Mårtensson, Press Officer, by email, or telephone +353-1-204 3124 or mobile +353-876-593 507