Frank Vandenbroucke

Frank Vandenbroucke is deputy prime minister and minister for social affairs and public health in Belgium.

Frank Vandenbroucke

Europe’s social agenda: raising the game

Frank Vandenbroucke 1st August 2024

The Belgian presidency of the Council of the EU has set the social-policy ambition for the next European Commission to follow.

EU social agenda beyond 2024—no time to waste

Frank Vandenbroucke 7th February 2023

As a high-level group on social protection and welfare reports, Belgium’s social-affairs minister advances the next EU social agenda.

A European solidarity pact

Frank Vandenbroucke 24th March 2022

Europe’s political leaders must rise to today’s challenges.

European citizens back unemployment reinsurance

Frank Vandenbroucke 29th January 2019

An unemployment reinsurance scheme benefiting countries hit by asymmetric shocks attracts what to some will be surprising support across the EU. Experts argue that European Monetary Union (EMU) has to be completed by ‘automatic fiscal stabilisers’. Welfare states have built-in stabilisers which cushion economic shocks—unemployment benefits, for instance, support the purchasing power of people who […]

From The Gothenburg Social Summit To A European Social Union

Frank Vandenbroucke 27th November 2017

On 17 November, the European Parliament, Council and Commission proclaimed a European Pillar of Social Rights in Gothenburg. The launch of the Pillar signals a cautious but steady paradigm shift, away from austerity, at least at the level of the Commission. But will it lead to tangible results? In essence, this paradigm shift is a […]

Teleworking experiment

Is Europe’s teleworking experiment coming to an end?

A new episode of the Eurofound Talks podcast looks at data from the Living and working in the EU e-survey showing a decline in the number of respondents engaged in remote work, with the percentage of people working entirely from the workplace increasing from 36% in 2023, to 41% in 2024.

Listen to the episode for free. Also make sure to subscribe to Eurofound Talks so you don’t miss an episode!

Progressive Ukraine

The policy brief series by FEPS and FES on Feminist Foreign Policy (FFP) offers timely insights into how the EU can advance gender-sensitive and sustainable peace agreements in a time of mounting militarisation.

While current measures being considered are framed as necessary responses to geopolitical instability, especially concerning Ukraine, there are significant concerns from an FFP perspective and broader security critiques.

We highlight five urgent considerations:

Feminist considerations for EU security and defence
Reversing cuts to feminist movements
Learning from Latin America’s Feminist Foreign Policy
Placing Feminist Foreign Policy at the heart of EU External Action
Embedding FFP into EU Foresight Practices

READ THE SERIES

WSI European Collective Bargaining Report 2023/2024

Real wages in the European Union continued their decline in 2023—despite an acceleration in nominal wage growth and falling inflation rates. For the current year, there are only tentative signs of a slow recovery in the purchasing power of wages.

A resumption of real wage growth would stabilize the functional distribution of income and strengthen domestic demand. However, even under this benign scenario, the crisis is far from over from workers' point of view. They have borne the brunt of real income losses associated with the energy-price shock resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The lingering reduction in real wage levels means that wage policy still needs to catch up to contribute to a fairer distribution of the burden between labor and capital.

The Politics of Unpaid Work

This new book published by Oxford University Press presents the findings of the multiannual ERC research project “Researching Precariousness Across the Paid/Unpaid Work Continuum”,
led by Valeria Pulignano (KU Leuven), which are very important for the prospects of a more equal Europe.

Unpaid labour is no longer limited to the home or volunteer work. It infiltrates paid jobs, eroding rights and deepening inequality. From freelancers’ extra hours to care workers’ unpaid duties, it sustains precarity and fuels inequity. This book exposes the hidden forces behind unpaid labour and calls for systemic change to confront this pressing issue.

DOWNLOAD HERE FOR FREE