Birth of a new EU agency

SOC I A L AG E NDA / J U LY 2 0 1 7 / 1 7 as the transferability of parental leave in many EU countries, contributed to the low take-up of such leave by fathers (despite expressing a higher preference to reduce their working time during the parenting years). Or take early childhood - a priority of the new European Commission. Eurofound produced evidence confirming two important assumptions: that the lack of availability, accessibility and affordability is one of the main barriers to the use of these childcare services; and that the work of early childhood education and care professionals has a long-lasting impact on children’s lives. Youth employment Well before 2017, Eurofound’s policy-centred research proved crucial in convincing the EU countries to invest in the fight against youth unemployment, as a matter of urgency. This it did in the aftermath of the 2008 financial and economic crisis, when public budgets were under strain across the EU. As a result, the Youth Guarantee was launched in 2012, together with a Youth Employment Initiative focusing on young people neither in employment, education nor training (NEETs) – a category that had not previously been given priority attention. To bring the point home, Eurofound estimated how much the EU economy would lose if it did not integrate the NEETs, not to mention the societal and political impact a lost generation would have in terms of trust and cohesion. Eurofound also provided follow-up by contributing to the evaluation of the implementation of the Youth Guarantee and the Youth Employment Initiative. This led the EU to sustain its efforts in favour of youth employment. Moreover, Eurofound focused a lot of effort on assessing the possible future of work, identifying the emerging forms of employment that are often taken up by young people, such as platform work. It categorized them according to their implications for working conditions and the labour market. Reaching out Eurofound is governed by a tripartite management board made up of representatives of the governments and the social partners in the EU countries, representatives of the European Commission and one independent expert appointed by the European Parliament. In February 2019, a new Eurofound founding Regulation came into force that refers explicitly to the national level of governance. Indeed, Member States’ governments and social partners are key to implementing the European Semester recommendations, agreed at EU level, and the employment and social affairs initiatives stemming from the European Pillar of Social Rights. © Belga Image Unemployed? Eurofound’s policy-centred research proved crucial in convincing EU countries to invest in the fight against youth unemployment. Policy-centred Located in Dublin, Ireland, with a small base in Brussels, Belgium, Eurofound was established in 1975. Its main mission is to provide knowledge to assist in the development of better social, employment and work- related policies. It is also to contribute to the analytical and policy work of the European Commission, other EU institutions, Member States and social partners’ organisations, and of the EU as a whole. Eurofound has produced three regularly repeated surveys covering all EU Member States and a range of other countries, depending on the survey: the European Working Conditions Survey, the European Quality of Life Survey and the European Company Survey. It also manages a network of European correspondents covering the EU countries, plus Norway. It collects a wide range of comparable information on national-level realities and developments. In 2018, Eurofound had around 100 staff members and an annual budget of about €20 million. More information: https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/ SOC I A L AG E NDA / NOV E MB E R 9