Labour market policies

Experts acknowledge the success of Spanish measures to encourage self-employment, but argue that many unemployed people have decided to set up their own businesses only because they cannot find a job, and that necessity-driven new businesses have lower survival rates. They say entrepreneurship

On 16 June 2014, employment reform to promote flexibility and encourage a high employment rate was agreed by the Danish parliament. The aim is to ensure that businesses get the workers they need, and the unemployed can improve their skills and qualifications. The reform will come into force fully by

A Hungarian research report surveyed 10,104 graduates of vocational training and assessed their labour market success nine months after they completed vocational education. The survey analyses factors such as age, gender and family background and concludes that good learning skills and general

The 2013–2014 annual report providing data on the Spanish university system focuses on the graduates of the 2005–2006 academic year, describing their subsequent labour market situation, including unemployment rates, self-employment, type of contract, income and mobility. In general, the data show

Keeping people in employment until retirement age is a hot topic in the Netherlands, as it is across the rest of the European Union. A series of Dutch studies shows that workers in some sectors are more likely to be able and willing to work until retirement age and others less so, such as craft and

A new coalition government of the populist Freedom Party (Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ) and the conservative People's Party (Österreichische Volkspartei, ÖVP) was formed on 4 February 2000. The participation of the populist FPÖ has caused unprecedented severe tensions in Austrian politics

In late March 2002, an important agreement was reached by Alitalia and trade unions on the restructuring of the Italian airline. The agreement relates to the company's business plan for 2002-3 and covers four main areas: general company restructuring measures, a joint procedure for monitoring the

In 2001-2, trade unions in the Catalonia region of Spain have taken a number of initiatives aimed at examining and criticising the level of unstable employment. CC.OO's Catalan organisation has drawn up a 'blacklist' of the 200 most unstable companies in the region, using a 'barometer of employment