European social policies aim to promote employment, improve living and working conditions, provide adequate social protection and combat social exclusion. These policies are generally the competence and responsibility of the EU Member States but the European Pillar of Social Rights gives new momentum to initiatives at European level.
Eurofound links its research to the policy priorities formulated by the European institutions and social partners. The Agency’s research findings show how policies are working out in practice, what approaches have been shown to work, and indicate how policies can be made more effective.
Eurofound’s European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) provides a fairly comprehensive picture of living conditions and helps depict new or emerging risks that can inform the social policies of the future. EQLS 2016, the fourth survey since 2003, looks at the situation around work and family life, health and care services, education, living standards, as well issues around social tensions and social inclusion.
Largely based on EQLS data, Eurofound produces a series of policy briefs from each survey on a range of topics providing background information and policy pointers for all actors and interested parties engaged in the current European debate on the future of social policy. Topics based on data from the EQLS 2016 include:
Eurofound’s EU PolicyWatch database gathers together measures introduced by governments and social partners to respond to the social and economic effects of recent crises on businesses, workers and citizens. It includes policies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the rise in inflation. It also includes policies supporting the digital and green transitions, as well as those to support companies and workers affected by restructuring.
Other social policy research has examined a range of measures aimed at improving the situation of vulnerable groups. In particular, Eurofound has carried out extensive research on policies targeting young people, particularly those aged 15–29 who are not in employment, education or training (NEETs), long-term unemployed youth, as well as young people with disabilities or health problems. Research has also focused on issues affecting older people, including innovative solutions around income and retirement. Additional studies have looked at access to early childhood care, home-care services, and care homes for older Europeans. Research has also examined equal opportunities and social mobility in Europe and measures to promote employment opportunities for economically inactive persons, while evidence on in-work poverty has been assessed.
The European Pillar of Social Rights, endorsed in November 2017, is built upon 20 key principles, structured around: equal opportunities and access to the labour market; fair working conditions; and social protection and inclusion. On 4 March 2021, the European Commission presented its action plan to fully implement the Pillar, turning the principles into concrete actions to benefit EU citizens, while also supporting the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. It outlines three EU-level targets to be achieved by 2030 and that will help to steer national policies and reforms:
Implementation of the Pillar largely depends on the actions of the Member States, who primarily hold responsibility for employment, skills and social policies. The Commission supports Member States in achieving these targets by providing guidance and coordination of national economic and social policies via the European Semester process, including related country-specific recommendations, in order to strengthen employment and social policies and to invest in social services and social infrastructure.
In the social policy area, in June 2021, the Commission launched a European Platform on Combating Homelessness and in September 2022, presented a new European Care Strategy, including an initiative on long-term care and the revision of the Barcelona targets. Also in 2022, it put forward a proposal for a Council Recommendation on minimum income. It has also launched in 2021 a high-level expert group to study the future of the welfare state.
The European Social Policy Analysis Network (ESPAN), set up by the Commission in 2014, provides independent information, analysis and expertise on social policies. The principles in the Social Pillar provide an extensive basis for development of new initiatives.
Eurofound’s work on social policies links in with the Commission’s 2019–2024 priority on a European Green Deal.
