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About Juan Menéndez-Valdés

Juan Menéndez-Valdés is the director of Eurofound, the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. Prior to assuming the position in 2010, he was the head of employment, immigration, education and training policies at the Spanish Confederation of Employers’ Organisation (CEOE) and programme manager for guidance and training at the Spanish National Institute for Employment (INEM).

social fabric

Taking Europe’s pandemic pulse

by Juan Menéndez-Valdés on 7th October 2020

A tentative growth in trust shows Covid-19 has not yet torn the social fabric of Europe.

social fabric

Europe’s leaders must stem falling trust

by Juan Menéndez-Valdés on 20th May 2020

A mass online survey across the continent has found Europeans reeling from the coronavirus crisis—and losing trust in their leaders’ ability to manage it.

Juan Menéndez-Valdés, what is inequality

Europe’s Economic Recovery Continues In Times Of Political Instability

by Juan Menéndez-Valdés on 26th June 2018

Europe is showing visible signs of progress; in most countries, labour markets are healthier than they have been in a decade, with more people active and in work than ever before, while social exclusion is declining. However, it is also a continent in transition, where an imbalance in opportunities for prosperity and quality of life […]

Juan Menéndez-Valdés, what is inequality

Europe – A World-Class Place To Live And Work?

by Juan Menéndez-Valdés on 7th December 2017

‘A world-class place to live and work.’ That is how President Juncker described Europe at the summit to formally proclaim the EU Pillar of Social Rights in Gothenburg last month. And he added: ‘Europe is more than just a single market, more than money … It is about our values and the way we want […]

Juan Menéndez-Valdés, what is inequality

EU Social Pillar: A (Potential) New Start For Europe

by Juan Menéndez-Valdés on 14th November 2017

When EU Heads of State and Government gather in Gothenburg this week to debate fair jobs and growth, it will be the first such ‘social summit’ in 20 years. At the heart of the agenda will be the formal proclamation of the European Pillar of Social Rights – 20 principles focused on equal opportunities and […]

Juan Menéndez-Valdés, what is inequality

Economic And Social Costs Of Gender Employment Gap

by Juan Menéndez-Valdés on 28th October 2016

In his recent State of the Union address, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker laid out his vision for the EU over the next 12 months. The need to build a Europe that protects and empowers its citizens was at the very core of the address, focusing on the common values that we share in Europe, […]

Juan Menéndez-Valdés, what is inequality

Current Changes To The Labour Market May Well Define The Future Of Europe

by Juan Menéndez-Valdés on 1st August 2016

Europe’s labour market has changed significantly in recent years, influenced by, among other things, the impact of the economic crisis. Eurofound’s research has shown that the labour market is becoming increasingly segmented. This segmentation could potentially result in a divided landscape of winners and losers, with very different experiences and perceptions of European integration and […]

Juan Menéndez-Valdés, what is inequality

Going Beyond The Headlines To Find Out What It Is Really Like To Live And Work In Europe

by Juan Menéndez-Valdés on 8th June 2016

Brexit dominates political debate, migrants stream through borders, social protection systems are collapsing, changing forms of work are corroding conditions, unemployment levels remain high and inequalities wreak growing tensions within societies. This is a European Union in meltdown, a chaotic cacophony of conflict, divergence and competitive downturn. Or is it really? Eurofound provides a more […]

Social Europe Publishing book

The Brexit endgame is upon us: deal or no deal, the transition period will end on January 1st. With a pandemic raging, for those countries most affected by Brexit the end of the transition could not come at a worse time. Yet, might the UK's withdrawal be a blessing in disguise? With its biggest veto player gone, might the European Pillar of Social Rights take centre stage? This book brings together leading experts in European politics and policy to examine social citizenship rights across the European continent in the wake of Brexit. Will member states see an enhanced social Europe or a race to the bottom?

'This book correctly emphasises the need to place the future of social rights in Europe front and centre in the post-Brexit debate, to move on from the economistic bias that has obscured our vision of a progressive social Europe.' Michael D Higgins, president of Ireland


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Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

The macroeconomic effects of the EU recovery and resilience facility

This policy brief analyses the macroeconomic effects of the EU's Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). We present the basics of the RRF and then use the macroeconometric multi-country model NiGEM to analyse the facility's macroeconomic effects. The simulations show, first, that if the funds are in fact used to finance additional public investment (as intended), public capital stocks throughout the EU will increase markedly during the time of the RRF. Secondly, in some especially hard-hit southern European countries, the RRF would offset a significant share of the output lost during the pandemic. Thirdly, as gains in GDP due to the RRF will be much stronger in (poorer) southern and eastern European countries, the RRF has the potential to reduce economic divergence. Finally, and in direct consequence of the increased GDP, the RRF will lead to lower public debt ratios—between 2.0 and 4.4 percentage points below baseline for southern European countries in 2023.


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ETUI advertisement

Benchmarking Working Europe 2020

A virus is haunting Europe. This year’s 20th anniversary issue of our flagship publication Benchmarking Working Europe brings to a growing audience of trade unionists, industrial relations specialists and policy-makers a warning: besides SARS-CoV-2, ‘austerity’ is the other nefarious agent from which workers, and Europe as a whole, need to be protected in the months and years ahead. Just as the scientific community appears on the verge of producing one or more effective and affordable vaccines that could generate widespread immunity against SARS-CoV-2, however, policy-makers, at both national and European levels, are now approaching this challenging juncture in a way that departs from the austerity-driven responses deployed a decade ago, in the aftermath of the previous crisis. It is particularly apt for the 20th anniversary issue of Benchmarking, a publication that has allowed the ETUI and the ETUC to contribute to key European debates, to set out our case for a socially responsive and ecologically sustainable road out of the Covid-19 crisis.


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Eurofound advertisement

Industrial relations: developments 2015-2019

Eurofound has monitored and analysed developments in industrial relations systems at EU level and in EU member states for over 40 years. This new flagship report provides an overview of developments in industrial relations and social dialogue in the years immediately prior to the Covid-19 outbreak. Findings are placed in the context of the key developments in EU policy affecting employment, working conditions and social policy, and linked to the work done by social partners—as well as public authorities—at European and national levels.


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Foundation for European Progressive Studies Advertisement

Read FEPS Covid Response Papers

In this moment, more than ever, policy-making requires support and ideas to design further responses that can meet the scale of the problem. FEPS contributes to this reflection with policy ideas, analysis of the different proposals and open reflections with the new FEPS Covid Response Papers series and the FEPS Covid Response Webinars. The latest FEPS Covid Response Paper by the Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, 'Recovering from the pandemic: an appraisal of lessons learned', provides an overview of the failures and successes in dealing with Covid-19 and its economic aftermath. Among the authors: Lodewijk Asscher, László Andor, Estrella Durá, Daniela Gabor, Amandine Crespy, Alberto Botta, Francesco Corti, and many more.


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