Documents EP 108 results

"Outbreaks affect men, women and other genders differentially. This can be both the direct infections with a pathogen, or the secondary effects of public health response policies. COVID-19 is no exception, and the gendered impacts thus far and in the future are numerous. This study outlines some of the key gendered effects thus far and suggestions for how these may extend into the post-crisis period based on currently available data on COVID and longer-term effects of previous outbreaks. This includes the lack of sex-disaggregated data, the role of healthcare workers and care workers, domestic violence, the impact of quarantine on feminised sectors of the economy, the additional unpaid labour on women as a result of lockdown, access to maternity, sexual and reproductive health services. This study commissioned by the European Parliament's Policy Department for Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the FEMM Committee."

"This study was commissioned by the European Parliament's Policy Department for Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the FEMM Committee. It explores the impact of COVID-19 on the EU care economy, the gendered nature of care work and its continued reliance on unpaid or low-paid work of women. Issues of valuing and measuring care are examined selected countries are examined with different systems of care provision. Despite the recognition of the centrality of the care economy during the pandemic, the establishment of a new highly significant EU funding mechanism (the Recovery and Resilience Fund, RRF) is focused largely on digital and green investments, paying only marginal attention to gender equality and the care economy."

"The Covid-19 pandemic has created huge challenges for policymakers in the whole world. These challenges have to do with both the short run and the long run. In addition, in the euro area, these challenges have dimensions that are peculiar to the fact that the euro area is a monetary union with one monetary authority and nineteen separate budgetary authorities. In this policy brief, the author provides some answer to two questions: • Which policy mix (national/supranational) supports smooth recovery, sustainability of public finances and resilience of the euro area? • Which EMU governance reforms should be prioritised so as to improve the functioning of the euro area?"

"This study overviews the impacts of the twin (digital and green) transition on the labour market and the workplace. It explores the role and presents good practice examples of employee involvement, both via social dialogue and collective bargaining and direct co-decision making, in shaping the transition at the macro and micro levels. Finally, the study summarises the main legislative and policy measures adopted at the EU level to foster employee involvement."

"The negative impact of the COVID-19 crisis on women's social and economic situation triggered a debate on the urgent need for a gender-sensitive policy response to the pandemic. In this context, the establishment of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) – the EU's biggest financial instrument supporting recovery in the Member States – is an opportunity to channel extraordinary resources toward measures that take into account the principles of gender equality. It is also a chance to put into practice the EU's long-standing commitments to mainstream gender across different policies and apply gender budgeting principles to EU spending. Offering an overview of how gender equality has been built into the RRF Regulation, this briefing explains what was expected from the Member States when they were preparing their national recovery and resilience plans (NRRPs) as regards gender equality. It also provides practical examples of reforms and investments where gender equality has been taken into account, from the 26 NRRPs approved by mid-October 2022 (only Hungary's plan is awaiting the Commission's assessment). In keeping with the RRF Regulation, all the NRRPs analysed declare gender equality to be a horizontal objective, to be given consideration in all measures. However, only some Member States have included dedicated reforms or investments addressing gender-related challenges explicitly or indicating women as the main beneficiaries. The most numerous and innovative measures, with gender equality clearly indicated in the milestones or targets linked to them, are present in the plans of Belgium, Estonia, Spain, Italy and Austria. This is a further update of a briefing the previous edition of which was published in April 2022."

"Algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) are changing the way people live and work.Depending on how AI technologies are used and what purpose they serve, they can drive progress and benefit the whole of society, but they also raise ethical concerns and may cause harm. When introduced to the world of work, their transformative potential runs into complex national and EU rules. Existing labour laws, put in place before AI systems came on the scene, do not appear fit to provide meaningful guiderails. As with any new technologies, tensions arise between two opposing regulatory approaches: strict regulation to safeguard society from potential hazards and minimum regulation to promote the technology's deployment and innovation. For employers who invest in AI systems, the main motivation is better workplace organisation, increased productivity,and competitiveness. Workers, on the other hand, may fear losing their jobs, and also want to have a say in how AI and algorithms are to become part of their daily lives. Focusing on workplace deployment of AI, this briefing looks at the state of play of algorithmic management in the workplace and some issues relating to the data that algorithms use and generate. It offers an overview of the current top-down EU legislative approach, ofinsights brought by the European Parliament, and of advances in collective bargaining, demonstrating the potential of a bottom-up approach to complement AI deployment. The briefing looks at the potential use ofsleeping clausesin the existing EU legal framework and – taking note of the views of both employers and trade unions– highlights themany open questions that remain."

"The ongoing and anticipated impact of digitalisation and the digital single market not only provides opportunities, but also presents challenges in terms of the job dynamics and changes in working conditions. The net effects of digitalisation on employment are ambiguous, but job losses in certain sectors are inevitable. Classic employer-employee relationships are also under pressure. The transformation of jobs calls for different skills requirements which could lead to growing skill gaps and mismatch in the labour market."

"This 'Cost of Non-Europe' study examines the current economic, social and legal state of play regarding the sharing economy in the European Union, and identifies the cost of the lack of further European action in this field. The assessment of existing EU and national legislation confirms that there are still significant implementation gaps and areas of poor economic performance. The subsequent examination of areas where it was believed that an economic potential exists highlighted that substantial barriers remain, hindering the achievement of the goals set out in the existing legislation. Moreover, some issues are not or are insufficiently addressed (e.g. status of workers employed by sharing economy service providers). Consequently, more European action would be necessary to achieve the full economic potential of the sharing economy. In doing so, policy-makers should seek to ensure an adequate balance between creative freedom for business and the necessary regulatory protection. This research estimates the potential economic gain linked with a better use of capacities (otherwise under-used) as a result of the sharing economy is €572 billion in annual consumption across the EU-28. This figure should nevertheless be considered with caution; substantial barriers prevent the full benefits from being realised, and could reduce the value of potential increased use to up to €18 billion in the shorter-term and up to €134 billion in the medium and longer term, depending on the scale of regulatory obstacles."