Gerstenberger, Barbara

Gender inequality at work persists across Europe, despite the long standing attention paid and efforts made to tackle it. This Eurofound report presents a closer look at women’s and men’s working conditions, using data from Eurofound’s European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) and complementing previous Eurofound research on, among other things, working time patterns, work–life balance and workers’ health.

The debate about the posting of workers in the EU, its economic and social consequences, and ways to manage it is hampered by the fact that reliable, comparable data on the phenomenon are lacking. Accurate statistics on the number of posted...

Eurofound has a considerable body of research findings looking at how salary levels are set in EU Member States. This report looks at the mechanisms used to determine statutory minimum wages, the use of variable pay schemes in companies in the EU, and national systems of supplementary pay.

/The recent financial crisis has brought to light the serious challenges that the European financial services sector is facing. What are the prospects of a viable, more resilient financial industry emerging from the crisis? To answer this question, we need to look at the economic trends in the banking and insurance industries and examine the results of the debate on the regulation of financial markets. Also, a look at the business models that are applied in the different segments of the financial sector as a response to the crisis can help to map the future of the sector. From the present viewpoint, it appears very probable that different approaches will compete in the near future and there will be no clear decision about which is the superior model. The coming years will be a period of testing at the business level as well as at the level of public regulation./

The three case studies presented above were conducted using published material from companies, like annual reports, press releases and, especially, reports of rating agencies. The companies investigated in the case studies did not agree to site visits and interviews (for a more detailed explanation of the methodology applied, please refer to the methodology report [1]). [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/publications/report/2010/undefined/financial-services-challenges-and-prospects-methodology