News

The lack of a single agreed definition of ‘just transition’ by the different interest groups participating in the EU Territorial Just Transition Plans (TJTPs) is hampering stakeholder involvement and progress on the issue.

Prolonged labour shortages in the EU affect growth, innovation and the bloc’s ability to achieve its digital and green targets, as around 80% of EU employers struggle to recruit workers with the right skills. Currently, the skills of one in three employees in the EU are mismatched with their job, with 17% overqualified and 13% underqualified.

National minimum wage rates were substantially raised in almost all EU countries in 2024, reversing the loss of purchasing power that minimum wage workers experienced between 2021 and 2023, according to relevant calculations.

In a new episode of Eurofound Talks Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound researchers Eszter Sandor and Massimiliano Mascherini about the situation for young people in Europe, from the impacts of the economic crisis and Great Recession to the aftermath COVID-19 pandemic and voting trends in the recent European Parliament elections.

Eurofound's new report explores young people’s wishes and plans for the future in the context of the current labour market and housing situation. It finds that, while there are positive signs for young people in terms of employment, many young people in Europe find themselves locked out of the housing market and unable to establish the independence required to have families of their own.

In a special edition of Eurofound Talks, Mary McCaughey is joined by Eurofound Executive Director Ivailo Kalfin and Ivan Krastev, Chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies and permanent fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna, to look at the political, social and economic drivers in Europe and how they might influence voters at the ballot box in June.