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Living and working in Europe 2021 — 01 February 2023, 22:21 CET

The COVID-19 pandemic continued to be a defining force in the lives and work of Europeans for a second year in 2021, and Eurofound continued its work of examining and recording the many and diverse impacts across the EU Member States. Living and working in Europe 2021 provides a snapshot of the changes to employment, work and living conditions in Europe, as gathered by Eurofound's research activities in 2021. This yearbook also summarises the Agency's findings on other challenging aspects of social and economic life – including gender equality in employment, wealth inequality and labour shortages – that will have a significant bearing on recovery from the pandemic, resilience in the face of the war in Ukraine, and a successful transition to a green and digital future. Eurofound's research on working and living conditions in Europe provides a bedrock of evidence for input into social policymaking and achieving the Agency's vision 'to be Europe's leading knowledge source for better life and work'.

Annual report on taxation 2022 - Review of taxation policies in the EU Member States — 28 June 2022, 23:02 CET

The report presents the state of play of taxation in the EU. The report aims to describe the most recent reforms and the main indicators used by the European Commission to assess progress on taxation policies in EU Member States and at EU level. The report provides information on the EU's main tax priorities: foster innovation and productivity; contribute to social fairness and prosperity; make tax administrations more effective and efficient and ensure good cooperation between tax administrations. In addition, in view of the digital and green transition and several important EU and international tax developments, the report focuses in-depth on three topics: green taxation and its contribution to addressing climate change and supporting ambitious environmental objectives; the digital transition, and its effect on taxation systems, in terms of tax rules, tax revenue collection and tax administration; and business taxation in the 21st century.

European Drug Report 2022: Trends and Developments — 16 June 2022, 17:25 CET

The Trends and Developments report presents the EMCDDA's latest analysis of the drug situation in Europe. Focusing on illicit drug use, related harms and drug supply, the report contains a comprehensive set of national data across these themes and key harm-reduction interventions.

Special report 06/2022: EU intellectual property rights - Protection not fully waterproof — 26 April 2022, 22:30 CET

In this audit, the European Court of Auditors assessed whether intellectual property rights in EU trademarks, EU designs and geographical indications are well protected within the Single Market.

The EU in 2021 - General report on the activities of the European Union — 09 March 2022, 15:40 CET

2021 was a very special year for all humanity. Do you want to know what the EU did during the year to combat the pandemic and its effect but also what progress it made in delivering on its other priorities? The measures it took to boost jobs, growth and investment? Or how citizens benefited from the European Union? You can find the answers to all these questions and more in The EU in 2021.

Early childhood education and care and the Covid-19 pandemic - Understanding and managing the impact of the crisis on the sector — 05 October 2021, 17:54 CET

Participation in high-quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) is essential for the personal development, social integration, successful lifelong learning and later employability of all children. This is why it is so important to improve the quality and effectiveness of ECEC systems across Europe. This report describes how the pandemic was handled in the ECEC sector across Europe.

Special Report 22/2021: Sustainable finance: More consistent EU action needed to redirect finance towards sustainable investment — 21 September 2021, 13:53 CET

The transition to a net-zero emission economy will require significant private and public investment. The European Court of Auditors report examines whether the Commission has been taking the right action to redirect finance towards sustainable investments. It concludes that more consistent EU action is needed. While the Commission rightly focused on increasing transparency in the market, there were no accompanying measures to address the cost of unsustainable economic activities and many actions have been delayed. In addition, the Commission needs to apply consistent criteria to determine the sustainability of EU budget investments and better target efforts to generate sustainable investment opportunities. The report can feed into the implementation of the 2021 Strategy for Financing the Transition to a Sustainable Economy.

Modelling environmental and climate ambition in the agricultural sector with the CAPRI model — 03 August 2021, 18:48 CET

During the last 30 years, the Common Agricultural Policy has increased the importance given to improving the environmental and climate performance of the European agriculture, as confirmed by the Future CAP proposal. Furthermore, the Green Deal strategy outlined a comprehensive approach to facilitate the transition towards sustainable food systems that links in a holistic approach all actors in the system, a path sketched out in the Farm to Fork (F2F) and Biodiversity (BDS) Strategies. Reflecting this ambition, this report was a contribution to the 2030 Climate Target Plan impact assessment, based on one of the main models used by the European Commission for agricultural policy analysis (the CAPRI model), which can incorporate some of the policies put forward for accelerating the transition towards sustainable food systems.

Annual report of the Court of Justice of the European Union 2020 — 01 June 2021, 23:07 CET

The annual report of the Court of Justice of the European Union is divided into two parts, entitled Judicial activity and Management report. The Court of Justice of the European Union also publishes The year in review, which is a summary of the annual report.

Annual Report on Taxation 2021 - Review of taxation policies in the EU Member States — 19 May 2021, 18:11 CET

This report describes and assesses progress by EU Member States in bringing their tax policies in line with the EU’s main tax priorities to: foster innovation and productivity, thus supporting an EU economy that is fit for the digital and global challenges; pave the way for environmental sustainability and good public health, thus contributing to climate-neutral and more resilient economies; fight tax fraud, evasion and abuse, thus ensuring that everybody pays their fair share; and contribute to social fairness and prosperity, thus ensuring an economy that works for people and addresses their needs. With those priorities in mind, this report identifies relevant indicators and potential improvements of tax systems in terms of tax design, implementation and compliance. The report finds that taxation can play a key role in supporting Europe’s recovery. The COVID-19 pandemic has created a severe crisis in Europe and the world. Citizens face an increased risk of poverty, our public health systems have been put under stress, many companies are over-leveraged, and tax revenue is likely to decrease in the coming years due to the pandemic. Member States should take the recovery as an opportunity to reform their fiscal framework and to address challenges brought by climate change, environmental degradation, ageing of population, digitalisation and globalisation. A well-designed tax policy response can help to increase fairness and generate much needed and sustainable revenue to recover from this crisis. It can also help foster innovation and productivity to improve the resilience of our economies and restore a more solid capital structure. By evaluating European tax policies in the light of the European Commission’s priorities of investment, environmental sustainability, the fight against tax abuse, tax certainty and fair taxation, this report informs the reader about certain aspects of taxation under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, which is at the centre of the NextGenerationEU instrument. The Annual Report on Taxation 2021 examines how EU Member States' tax systems help to achieve the EU Commission’s priorities, most notably: ensuring that the digital transition works for all; developing, modern, resource-efficient economies that are climateneutral; creating a more attractive investment environment; and simulating growth that helps to reduce poverty and inequality.

Living and working in Europe 2020 — 13 May 2021, 18:20 CET

The enormity of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lives and work of Europeans is hard to capture, but Eurofound's priority in 2020 was to record and assess the experience of this societal upheaval across the EU Member States in all its detail, variety and modulation. Living and working in Europe 2020 provides a snapshot of how the COVID-19 confinement measures changed employment, work and quality of life in Europe, as gathered by Eurofound's research activities in 2020. This yearbook also summarises the Agency's findings regarding developments in other aspects of social and economic life – including workplace practices, social dialogue, gender equality and access to public services – that will have a significant bearing on how quickly Europe recovers from the pandemic and a successful transition to a green and digital future. The findings on working and living conditions produced by Eurofound in the course of its work provide a bedrock of evidence for input into social policymaking.

Combating Unsafe Products: How to Improve Europe's Safety Gate Alerts — 22 April 2021, 22:06 CET

The European Union has built a one-stop-shop for its member state regulators to post product safety notifications - Safety Gate (European Commission 2021d). Constructed on top of the Rapid Alert System for Dangerous Non-Food Products, or RAPEX, the Safety Gate web portal is designed to make public the "quick exchange of information" between 31 European countries and the European Commission "about measures taken against dangerous non-food products."

Potential need for changes to the governance and funding of EFRAG — 08 March 2021, 21:04 CET

The report 'Potential need for changes to the governance and funding of EFRAG' proposes reforms to EFRAG's governance structure to ensure that future EU sustainability reporting standards are developed using an inclusive and rigorous process. It sets out, for example, how national and European authorities will be involved, while ensuring that the process also draws upon the expertise of the private sector and civil society.

Proposals for a relevant and dynamic EU sustainability reporting standard setting — 08 March 2021, 21:04 CET

The report 'Proposals for a relevant and dynamic EU sustainability reporting standard setting' proposes a roadmap for the development of a comprehensive set of EU sustainability reporting standards. It was prepared by a multistakeholder task force established by the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG).

Nature restoration - helping people, biodiversity and climate — 03 February 2021, 11:55 CET

Restoring nature on land and sea would have huge benefits for people’s health and well-being and help tackle the biodiversity and climate crises. This publication by WWF brings this to life through a collection of real-world examples.

Cumulative economic impact of trade agreements on EU agriculture — 26 January 2021, 22:15 CET

The EU trade agenda is set to have an overall positive impact on the EU economy and the agri-food sector, according to a new study published today. Trade agreements are due to result in substantial increases in EU agri-food exports, with more limited increases in imports, creating a positive trade balance overall. The study also confirms that the EU's approach to grant a limited amount of lower duty imports (through tariff rate quotas) is the best approach in terms of protecting specific vulnerable agri-food sectors in the EU.

Air quality in Europe - 2020 EEA report — 23 November 2020, 23:47 CET

The Air quality in Europe report provides an annual assessment of the status and impacts of air quality and recent air quality trends. The report supports policy development and implementation in the field of air quality at both European and national levels.

Quality of life in European cities 2020 — 13 October 2020, 23:50 CET

What city is the cleanest or the safest? In which city is easy to find a job or a house? Which city has the best public transport or air quality? Answers to these questions and many more can be found in the latest Report on the Quality of life in European Cities, 2020. This report summarises the results of the 5th survey of European cities, which covers 83 cities and was carried out in 2019.

EU action to tackle the issue of plastic waste: Review No 04/2020 — 06 October 2020, 23:18 CET

This review examines the EU's response to the growing problem of plastic waste with a focus on plastic packaging waste. The EU's 2018 plastics strategy proposes measures aiming to improve recyclability, collection, sorting, recycling and recycled content of plastic products. The revised Packaging and Packaging Waste directive set new plastic packaging recycling targets for 2025 (50 %) and 2030 (55 %). New stricter reporting rules will likely lead the EU's reported average plastic packaging recycling rate to drop. Even for plastic packaging, the most developed arm of the plastics strategy, concerted action by stakeholders at EU and Member State level will be required to bridge the considerable gap between the current recycling rate and where we need to be in only 5 to 10 years' time.

European Drug Report 2020: Trends and Developments — 22 September 2020, 21:49 CET

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of patterns emerging across Europe in the areas of drug supply, illicit drug use and associated public health problems. National data sets are also provided across these themes and on key harm-reduction interventions.

Healthy environment, healthy lives: how the environment influences health and well-being in Europe — 08 September 2020, 21:59 CET

A significant proportion of the burden of disease in Europe continues to be attributed to environmental pollution resulting from human activity. This report highlights how the quality of Europe's environment plays a key role in determining our health and well-being.

Report on EU Competition Policy 2019 — 09 July 2020, 17:41 CET

The European Commission published on 9 July the Report on Competition Policy for 2019, presenting its most important policy and legislative initiatives, as well as key decisions adopted last year. In 2019, the Commission's competition policy and enforcement actions continued to target anticompetitive conduct and measures in markets of particular relevance for citizens and businesses in the EU, such as the telecommunications and digital sectors, energy and environment, financial services, taxation, agriculture and food, manufacturing and transport.

Trade and Investment Barriers Report 2019 — 18 June 2020, 23:53 CET

Thanks to the European Union's successful intervention, European companies generated EUR 8 billion in additional exports in 2019. The high number of new restrictions that hinder EU exports shows however that protectionism has become deeply ingrained in global trade. These are some of the findings of the Commission's annual Trade and Investment Barriers Report published on 18 June.

European bathing water quality in 2019 — 08 June 2020, 23:06 CET

Bathing is an extremely popular and important leisure activity in Europe. This annual assessment of European bathing sites shows how well environmental protection measures are implemented, allowing people to make informed decisions on where to go to best enjoy Europe’s inland and coastal bathing sites.

The EU in 2019 - General report on the activities of the European Union — 11 March 2020, 17:55 CET

Find out everything you need to know about the European Union’s achievements in 2019. The General Report on the Activities of the European Union brings you up to date on how the EU delivered on the 10 priorities set by the Juncker Commission. As well as the results of the European elections, find out about the changes at the top of the EU institutions, including the first actions of the new European Commission, which took office in December. You can find information on these and many more issues in The EU in 2019.

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Libcast’s Online Video Platform in the limelight at BETT 2015 — 28 January 2015, 16:17 CET

Libcast of France will be showcasing its Online Video Platform at BETT 2015 in London, in January. The specialist company’s innovative and versatile solution enables users to host, manage and broadcast lectures live or in streaming mode. With 200,000 users, Libcast’s technology has already been chosen by many universities and schools, including leading colleges in France and Norway.