Documents Observatoire social européen, Brussels 196 results

"As Europe grapples with geopolitical upheavals, economic shifts and the urgency of a just, green transition, the future of strong social policies at EU level may seem uncertain. How can the EU balance security and competitiveness without compromising its social and just transition commitments? What lessons can be learned from the successes and setbacks of the von der Leyen I Commission? How will the new economic governance framework affect Social Europe? These are the key questions that guide Social policy in the European Union: state of play 2024.

With the EU entering a new political cycle under the von der Leyen II Commission, concerns are mounting over whether Social Europe can withstand the growing dominance of competitiveness and security imperatives. While significant steps have been taken in the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights, the shift toward competitiveness as the EU's primary objective raises doubts over the future of social progress. Moreover, while the frugal nature of the Stability and Growth Pact underpinning the common currency has been somewhat alleviated by a reform of its preventive arm, fiscal consolidation remains a significant policy steamroller. This book assesses key developments such as the Platform Work Directive, advances in pay transparency, and the EU's evolving approach to just transition, while critically examining the changing role of social policy.

The new Commission's focus on skills, training, and quality reflects a broader transformation of the EU's social agenda — one that emphasizes investment in human capital as a means to drive competitiveness. Yet, as this volume highlights, this ‘social investment' approach risks neglecting the buffer function of welfare states: the essential role of social protection in shielding citizens from economic shocks and inequality. In turn, this raises a fundamental question: will Social Europe continue its momentum, or will it be sidelined by the EU's evolving priorities? With rising geopolitical tensions and pressures for increased security spending, the risk of social investment being crowded out is real. The policy shifts documented in this book invite reflection on whether the EU's ‘social turn' of recent years can be sustained — or whether a new paradigm is emerging, one in which social rights must compete for relevance in an era defined by competitiveness and security challenges."

"This paper examines the relationship between the EU Platform Work Directive (2024/2831) and three core EU labour directives: The Working Time Directive (2003/88/EC), the Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions Directive (2019/1152) and the Fixed-Term Work Directive (1999/70/EC).

While the Platform Work Directive is acknowledged as a step in the right direction, it fails to meaningfully integrate key protections already present in the EU social acquis. This leaves the available protections for platform workers scattered, incomplete, ultimately weakening their effectiveness in practice.

Despite these shortcomings, the paper ends on a note of cautious optimism. It highlights that Member States have an opportunity to address these gaps by going beyond minimum compliance in national implementation and that further progress may emerge from the forthcoming ILO convention on decent work in the platform economy."

This work is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

"The sixteenth edition of Social policy in the European Union: state of play has a triple ambition. First, it provides easily accessible information to a wide audience about recent developments in both EU and domestic social policymaking. Second, the volume provides a more analytical reading, embedding the key developments of the year 2014 in the most recent academic discourses. Third, the forward-looking perspective of the book aims to provide stakeholders and policymakers with specific tools that allow them to discern new opportunities to influence policymaking.

In this 2015 edition of Social policy in the European Union: state of play, the authors tackle the topics of the state of EU politics after the parliamentary elections, the socialisation of the European Semester, methods of political protest, the Juncker investment plan, the EU's contradictory education investment, the EU's contested influence on national healthcare reforms, and the neoliberal Trojan Horse of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)."

"2011 was a year marked by some key progress in European integration: new moves towards Treaty revision, new rules for economic and budgetary coordination, and a more evident role of the EU in national policymaking. In parallel, the destabilisation of the euro zone progressed: the long-term effects of the Greek crisis have not been tackled by European policymakers, while tension shifted from the EU periphery to the very core of the euro zone. Most Member States pursued punitive austerity measures. All these trends undoubtedly represent worrying signs for the future of the European Social Model. The European Union is therefore dealing with crucial questions about its future sustainability: the fate of the euro is in jeopardy, as is the very meaning of the European integration project. A new compromise is needed between economic competitiveness and social solidarity. Otherwise, the risk will be an increase in public disaffection towards Europe and reciprocal accusations of egoism and lack of strategic views among the Member States. This 2011 edition of Social developments in the European Union examines the ways in which the EU has changed in this turbulent phase. Institutional innovations were paralleled by new economic governance tools and further reinforcement of the austerity paradigm. Beyond economic governance, this volume sheds light on the state of European social dialogue, the role of structural funds, the fate of the social dimension of Europe 2020, and the activities of the European Court of Justice. Analysis of the EU level is complemented by a critical review of national reforms, especially in the case of health care. "

"L'année 2009 s'est ouverte sur l'une des plus graves crises économiques que l'Europe ait connues depuis quatre-vingts ans. Le krach financier de l'automne 2008 a fait chuter l'économie réelle de la plupart des États membres de l'Union européenne, provoquant restructurations, faillites, licenciements, chômage. Les plans de relance, tant au niveau national qu'européen, ont tenté de limiter les dégâts tout au long de l'année. Mais cet enchaînement fait désormais peser sur les finances publiques des États membres de lourdes menaces pour les années à venir, ce qui se traduit par des plans d'austérité budgétaire.
Ce Bilan social de l'Union européenne 2009 se penche sur la manière dont le « modèle social européen » a amorti, souvent de manière inégale, la crise. Il compare ce modèle avec celui des États-Unis, et s'interroge sur le rôle de l'UE dans la gouvernance multilatérale en matière financière (notamment au G20), ainsi qu'au sein d'organisations internationales (telles que l'OIT). Enfin, il s'attache à analyser l'impact très concret de la crise sur les politiques sociales de l'Union : stratégie pour l'emploi, financement des pensions, dialogue social, inclusion sociale, etc "