Economic and social councils, the institutionalised platforms for social and civic dialogue in the European Union and in most of its Member States, show a broad range of diversity – in set-up, composition and name. This patchwork of practices seems to stem from political, social and economic traditions in the various countries. Another source of variation is the opinion on who is considered a social partner and on how they should be represented in an institutionalised platform.
The objective of this study is to facilitate food donation in the EU by providing a comparative overview of relevant legislation and practices in the Member States, mapping any hurdles they present to efficient food donation and identifying best practices.
The event will stimulate a debate on the impacts of climate change on employment and the ways in which climate change is being addressed from a labour perspective. It will highlight the increasingly important role of the social partners, workers and employers organizations, in the dialogue on climate policy, and address possibilities for strengthening the decent work dimension in the future climate agreement.
How do Europeans go a-wooing? Probably in much the same way as everyone else, although obviously down the ages every country and culture has had – and still has – its own courtship manuals.
This study provides a comparative overview of current legislation and practices concerning food donation in the EU Member States (MS) by mapping key hurdles preventing food donation, by identifying best practices in the field and by developing recommendations on how to legislate or interpret legislation in order to facilitate food donation.
In 2013 the European Economic and Social Committee’s Permanent Study Group on the Transport White Paper commissioned IFOK with drawing up a study on civil society involvement in European transport policies and projects. The aim of the study is to identify existing good practices in the field and, building on their assessment, to develop possible approaches for the EESC by which it can contribute to more participatory decision-making.
The following study gives an overview of the current economic and social situation in Austria, with a particular focus on explaining the Austrian labour relations model and the importance of social partnership and its role in developments since the onset of the global economic crisis in 2008-2009.
Radical labour market reforms were implemented in Germany between 2002 and 2005, reforms that overturned the received idea that Germany was suffering from "reform paralysis". However, the part of these reforms that specifically concerned labour law was very small; their main purpose was to overhaul the social security and activation system for the unemployed and others of working age who are in need of support in line with a "work first" strategy. These reforms were extremely controversial and changed the party-political landscape in Germany.
The European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) “Water and sanitation are a human right! Water is a public good, not a commodity!“ was the first successful ECI, achieving over 1.6 million validated signatures from across 13 Member States. The Initiative called upon the Commission to “implement the human right to water and sanitation in European law“.
