This Regional Strategy Paper (RSP), the second for Mercosur, provides a strategic framework for EC cooperation with Mercosur for the period 2007-2013. The RSP has been prepared following a consultation process involving Mercosur member states and civil society actors. EC-Mercosur relations are...

Research into the importance of social and economic cohesion policies in the context of the new financial framework 2014-2020 and the impact that trade union organisations could have in this process.

In 2008, the SOC Bureau decided to set out a relatively comprehensive strategy for the work of the SOC Section during the 2008-2010 mandate. The purpose of this strategy was to a) structure the work of the Section in order to make it more forceful and find priorities for actions and...

Four years after the start of the Arab Spring uprisings, the macroeconomic situation in the EU’s Southern Neighbourhood remains weak and vulnerable and the recent intensification of civil strife and military conflicts is exacerbating this economic malaise. Macroeconomic performance may not...

The global crisis has taken its toll on the EU’s prime position in international trade. While the EU still has the largest relative market shares, its position has deteriorated since the crisis, much more so than the US, and its comparative advantage in knowledge-intensive goods has been...

The first official data releases of quarterly real GDP for the euro area are published about eight weeks after the end of the reference quarters. Meanwhile, ongoing economic developments must be assessed from various, more readily available, monthly indicators. We examine in the context of...

Social expenditure in Poland appears to increase regional employment disparities. In particular, the farmers' social fund (KRUS) seems to contribute to the rising regional dispersion in the number of recipients of social transfers. This is the result of KRUS benefits being poorly related to...

Many people in Europe do not receive the social benefits to which they are entitled. This is the case across countries and for many types of benefits. Addressing this ‘non-take-up’ of benefits is critical for two key reasons: benefits do not fulfil their objective if they do not reach the...

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...