Publications

The EU Presidency of Czechia organised a high-level conference in October 2022  on ‘Tackling energy poverty: EU approach & sharing best practices’. The event aimed to bring different actors together in order to strengthen the dialogue on possible solutions on how to further tackle energy poverty in the EU. This background paper, prepared at the request of the Czech Presidency, aims to contribute to the debate. 

This working paper investigates the practical implementation of the European Works Council (EWC) Directive at company level. It explores the challenges faced by existing EWCs and provides examples of solutions identified and remaining issues from the point of view of both workers and management. In addition, the paper looks at how EWCs meet the requirements of the EWC Directive in terms of establishing processes of information and consultation.

Evropski trg dela je po pandemiji covida-19 močno okreval. Do konca leta 2021, malo več kot 18 mesecev po začetku pandemije, so bile stopnje zaposlenosti v EU skoraj na ravni pred krizo. V tem poročilu so povzeta gibanja na trgu dela v letih 2020 in 2021, pri čemer so uporabljeni četrtletni podatki iz raziskave EU o delovni sili. Povzetki temeljijo na strukturnih vidikih, s poudarkom na podatkih posameznih sektorjev in poklicev ter ključnih demografskih spremenljivkah, kot sta spol in starost.

The rise in cost of living and energy poverty: Social impact and policy responses. 14 October 2022, Informal Meeting of Employment and Social Affairs Ministers (EPSCO). Presentation by Ivailo Kalfin, Executive Director, Eurofound.

Zaradi pandemije so se povečale neenakosti v številnih razsežnostih evropskih družb, vključno z neenakostmi med ženskami in moškimi na več ključnih področjih. V tem poročilu so obravnavane neenakosti med spoloma, ki so obstajale že pred koronavirusno krizo, opisano pa je tudi, kako je pandemija dodatno vplivala na poglobitev razlik med njima. Analizirani so tudi različni politični odzivi nacionalnih vlad po vsej EU za odpravo razlik med spoloma in preprečevanje njihovega poglabljanja med pandemijo.

Lower levels of health, increasing financial pressure and a significant degree of unmet healthcare: these are the findings of the fifth round of the Living, working and COVID-19 e-survey: Living in a new era of uncertainty – a report that presents an overview of responses from over 200,000 people across all five rounds of the e-survey, which took place from spring 2020 to spring 2022.

In this data story, we use the e-survey data to take a closer look at the impact of the pandemic on mental health.

The platform economy is one of those moving targets, which, despite receiving increasing media and policy attention, has proven difficult to regulate. Given the heterogeneity of employment relationships, business models, types of platform work and cross-border issues, this is not surprising. Yet, in recent years, an increasing number of initiatives and court rulings across EU Member States have sought to address the employment rights and working conditions of platform workers.

Bančni sektor za prebivalstvo je idealno okolje za proučevanje učinkov digitalizacije na delo in zaposlovanje. Finančne storitve se vse pogosteje zagotavljajo prek spleta brez posrednikov, tj. institucij, ki so v neposrednem stiku s strankami. Številne banke v tem sektorju so od svetovne finančne krize v postopku serijskega prestrukturiranja in je eden redkih storitvenih sektorjev, ki stagnira ali zmanjšuje zaposlenost.

Although the worldwide pandemic situation had already disrupted supply chains and triggered increases in energy and food prices in 2021, the situation deteriorated in 2022 with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Governments throughout the EU had already started to intervene with policy measures in a bid to cushion the impact of rising fuel and energy prices on citizens, but the situation demanded further responses. This article summarises these first policy responses, as reported in Eurofound’s EU PolicyWatch database, up to the end of May 2022.

As the war in Ukraine has intensified, the cost of food, raw materials and energy prices, already high due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has continued to rise substantially. Ahead of coordinated action at EU level, as agreed by EU energy ministers on 9 September 2022, governments across the EU have started to implement policies to support companies affected by the rising prices, and those with commercial ties to Ukraine, Russia or Belarus. This article summarises these first policy responses, as reported in Eurofound’s EU PolicyWatch database, up to 31 May 2022.