Recent months have seen an improvement in economic outlook, a calming of the sovereign debt crisis and a stabilisation of unemployment rates. ECB President Mario Draghi was, however, cautious in his assessment of the emergent European recovery in January, calling it ‘modest’, ‘weak’ and...

According to the 2014 spring forecast from the European Commission DG-ECFIN, ‘the economic outlook is strengthening’ and ‘leading indicators point to GDP growth gaining momentum’. Some measure of modest growth has now returned to the majority of Member States. This issue includes:...

Recent data has cast doubt on the strength of the recovery. In its October 2014 World Economic Outlook, the IMF predicts a euro zone growth rate of 0.8% in 2014 (down from a forecast growth rate of 1.1% in April 2014). Factors contributing to the poorer outlook are slowdowns in the US, Japan and...

Dramatic recent oil price declines have seen deflation take hold in the EU. General price levels in December 2014 were 0.2% lower than a year earlier. This is further evidence of a tentative European economic recovery that appears to be running out of steam. Growth forecasts for the EU have been...

Economic recovery in the EU has some positive tailwinds at last. These come in three forms; reduced oil prices are a significant boon to the EU as it is a major net importer; the ECB’s decision to adopt unconventional monetary policy options previously implemented in other developed economies...

Eurofound in 2014 expanded its evidence base on the repercussions of the crisis on the living and working conditions of Europeans, and offered guidance on viable options available to policymakers in their efforts to turn Europe around. The Agency produced new knowledge in some of the areas of...

The EU and its citizens faced enormous challenges in 2012 as the limited economic recovery of the previous year stalled, GDP fell and unemployment began to grow again. As this yearbook on Living and working in Europe 2012 describes, one of the starkest findings was the divergence between and...

Economic news may have improved for some Member States of the European Union in 2011, but for many citizens uncertainty about the future and the ability to maintain standards of living are ongoing issues. Eurofound’s third Yearbook reflects these realities. It presents some of the main...

This second annual Yearbook on Living and working in Europe 2010 aims to convey the main findings of some of Eurofound's key currents of research – in particular, results and analysis from its three pan-European surveys on company practices, working conditions and quality of life. All the...