Youth unemployment rates in Europe are dramatically high. [...] Many EU Member States have implemented youth employment policies that facilitate and support young people’s pathways through education to employment and tackle such diverse issues as early school leaving, school-to-work...

Youth unemployment policy has tended to focus on two groups: young people with low educational attainment and those with higher education who have failed to find work. However, there is a large group of middle attainers who tend to be overlooked by policy – young people who have completed...

The main aim of the workshop was to examine the rise in the number of young people with disabilities. In many EU Member States, there is increasing policy concern about the growing numbers of young people who are entering long-term disability schemes. It appears that the nature of the illnesses...

In light of the impact of the recent negative developments in the labour market on young people, EU Member States have in recent years been actively engaged in designing and implementing policy measures targeted at young people. In the context of its 2011 work programme, Eurofound carried out an...

This compilation of briefing notes regroups experts' contributions prepared and presented as a background for a public hearing that took place in the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) of the European Parliament on 17 March 2010. The focus was put on analysing the main challenges...

The legal basis of collective bargaining in Austria is laid down by the Labour Constitution Act (ArbVG). According to the ArbVG, collective agreements can be concluded only between collective organisations of employers and employees. Therefore, the Austrian labour law systematically benefits...

The Belgian collective bargaining system is highly institutionalised and coordinated. Over 90% of employees are covered by a collective agreement, placing Belgium among the countries with the highest coverage in Europe. Also, the Belgian trade unions have a relatively high level of membership...

The right to collective bargaining and the binding character of collective agreements is enshrined in the Spanish Constitution (Section 37.1). The system of collective bargaining is thoroughly regulated in Title III of the Workers’ Statute. In particular, Section 82.3 establishes the legally...

This background paper from the European Foundation has been drafted to coincide with the European Parliament's hearing on 12 September 2007 in Brussels on the "Role of the minimum wage/minimum income for social inclusion in the EU". The focus of the paper is on minimum wage provisions in Europe;...