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According to international standards, children without parental care should grow up in a setting as close as possible to a family or in a small group. After serious concerns had been raised about residential care for children and youths, several EU countries started to transition from institutional to family-based care. In parallel, residential care in small units may still be seen as part of a continuum of services for children and youths with varying needs. In the EU, care for children and youths ...

A special plenary session will take place in Brussels on 27 January, International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The date marks the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp in 1945, and provides an opportunity to remember the victims of the Holocaust and to reaffirm the need for overcoming stereotypes and prejudice.

This study examines how the European Commission and the European Investment Bank measure the impact of their external action programmes and investments on decent and sustainable job creation in Sub Saharan Africa, with particular attention to the Global Gateway. This paper summarises current employment impact assessment practices, recognising their capacity to capture high level direct and indirect employment effects while also identifying clear limitations, especially in harmonising job quality ...

During the January plenary session, the European Parliament is expected to vote on a legislative initiative calling on the European Commission to propose a new directive to protect workers in the green and digital transitions. The directive would address the challenges and opportunities of a just transition in the workplace, and establish an EU framework of policy measures for regions affected by the twin transitions. The report calls for more EU funding for the just transition post-2027.

This briefing focuses on the Impact Assessment (IA) accompanying the 6th revision of the Carcinogens, Mutagens and Reprotoxic substances Directive 2004/37/EC (CMRD). The IA states that more than 170,000 workers still lose their lives each year due to work-related illnesses. The IA identifies five problem drivers and details the consequences. The need for an added value EU action is explained in a subsidiarity grid. The general objective is broken into four specific objectives. The preferred options ...

The ECB’s Governing Council set up a High-Level Task Force to recommend simplifications of banking regulation and supervision, chaired by Vice-President Luis De Guindos. On 11 December 2025, the ECB published the task force’ report. This briefing reviews and analyses the proposals and provides context in view of the ECON committee exchange of views with Vice-President De Guindos on 15 January 2026.

In this background paper, the authors trace regulatory and policy proposals for further EU action for an added role of the EU in solving some aspects of the health workforce challenge. The authors sketch the legal competences of the EU in this sphere to take legislative action, list and analyse the proposals that have been put forward at various levels including the European Parliament. The authors also present the different policy and legal options that can be considered for adoption.

Although it is a long-standing concept, the 28th regime was emphasised by Enrico Letta's report in 2024 as a major recommendation to reinforce the single market and remove internal barriers. The International Monetary Fund estimates that the persistent barriers to the EU single market still represented the equivalent of a 110 % tariff on services. The 28th regime, which has yet to be defined, would possibly be a specific legal framework that would govern various aspects of businesses that opt into ...

The EU and its Member States have signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and use its definition of disability as a common reference at EU level. There is no other harmonised definition of disability in the EU. The introduction of the Global Activity Limitation Instrument indicator (GALI) in most of Eurostat's social and economic surveys offers the opportunity to have a clearer assessment of disability in the EU than before. It confirms that in 2024 the prevalence of disability ...

This study analyses the impacts of extreme weather events (heatwaves, floods, storms, droughts and cold spells) on occupational health and safety (OSH) across the European Union. It explores regional and sectoral vulnerabilities, examines effects on different worker groups, and elaborates on potential economic costs. The study reviews EU and national policy frameworks, identifies implementation gaps, and offers evidence-based recommendations to strengthen OSH systems in a changing climate. This document ...