Comparing recent Danish, Finnish and Swedish labour market policy reforms

The goal of this first report of the 'Benchmarking Employment Offices - Nordic and Other European Comparisons (acronym BEO) is an analytical comparison of the Danish, Finnish and Swedish labour market policy principles and structures primarily from a practical point of view. The purpose is to provide a background to compare, at a later stage, the recent reforms in the labour administrations in the Nordic countries (including later also Norway) with Germany and Holland. In reflecting on the Danish, Finnish and Swedish labour market policy and service reforms, we mainly use the Danish reform as a reference point, and then comment on the similarities and differences of Finland and Sweden in relation to it. It must be noted, however, that the Swedish observations are based on a preliminary study, and will be elaborated further as our work progresses.