One of the hallmarks of the European Union (EU) Member States’ social protection systems, unlike that of other regions in the world, is the right to income protection in case of sickness. To differing extents, all EU countries provide three types of arrangements in case of sickness: a) sick leave; b... Find out more

This volume is the 20th anniversary edition of Social policy in the EU: state of play. Coordinated by Cécile Barbier and Philippe Pochet, the first edition covered the year 1999 and was published as a collaborative project between the European Social Observatory (OSE) and the European Trade Union... Find out more

This year’s stock-take of Social Europe - Social Policy in the European Union: state of play 2018 - reports on recent EU and national social policymaking with a focus on the game-changing advent of the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) one year ago. A dominant feature of this annual review of... Find out more

This new edited volume on occupational welfare in Europe is based on research projects coordinated by the European Social Observatory (OSE) It focuses on recent developments in the field of pensions and unemployment-related schemes in nine countries: Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands... Find out more

Structural reforms are increasingly at the core of the European and national agenda. But what are they? And what are the main factors shaping their content? This analysis of the structural reforms adopted between 2008 and 2015 in five European Union (EU) countries – the Czech Republic, Finland... Find out more

The European Union has gone through a crucial period marked by growing anti-EU sentiments and the difficult implementation of its largely renewed socio-economic governance. After years of in-depth innovations and the hope of reinvigorating the E(M)U social dimension, European institutions have... Find out more

This working paper assesses the impact of the economic crisis on European pension systems and provides a comparative overview of the measures imposed on European pension systems, together with their effects.Focussing on eight countries (representative of different pension models) the study shows... Find out more

This paper sheds light on the initial impact of the economic and financial crisis on pensions policy across Europe, and assesses the first measures proposed and/or introduced in four EU countries. The author argues that while the impact on different pension models naturally varies, some common... Find out more

2010 was a critical year for the European Union (EU) in at least three major respects. First of all, many EU countries started showing signs of increased financial stress, while the eurozone began to be affected by a true debt crisis extending well beyond the highly publicised case of Greece... Find out more

This Working Paper sheds light on the multi-dimensional and changing interplay between state, market institutions and social partners in relation to supplementary pension schemes, the importance of which is growing across Europe. The paper offers a lucid analysis of the responsibility shared among... Find out more