Think Tank

The reform of social security rules, proposed in 2016, was provisionally agreed by the EU co-legislators in April 2026. After adoption by Parliament in plenary in July, the file awaits final adoption by the Council, envisaged for September. The revised rules seek to coordinate access to social security for those who live or work in another EU country. They also distribute the financial burden more equitably among EU countries and reinforce measures to identify and tackle fraud. Provisions on unemployment ...

This briefing reviews the first three years of implementation of the European Chips Act and identifies how lessons learnt from its evaluation have been integrated into the legislative proposal to review the Act. Available evidence suggests the Chips Act delivered significant outputs, including the establishment of competence centres and five pilot lines, the foundation of a design platform, substantial public and private investment commitments in production facilities, and a coordination and crisis-response ...

The European Commission wants to improve the quality of jobs in the EU. Building on its communication on the quality jobs roadmap, it is now preparing a new legislative proposal, the quality jobs act. Taking as a starting point the existing EU rules, it has consulted European social partners on possible further action in five areas: algorithmic management and artificial intelligence (AI) at work; health and safety at work; subcontracting; just transitions; and enforcement and role of social partners ...

Regulation (EU) 2019/1022 establishing a multiannual plan for the fisheries exploiting demersal stocks in the western Mediterranean Sea (WestMed MAP) aimed at progressively achieving an exploitation level able to keep fish populations of harvested species above levels capable of producing the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) by 2025. After more than five years of implementation, a consensus has emerged to revise the WestMed MAP, and the Commission announced a proposal for revision (also covering the ...

This paper examines how the European Union (EU) promotes gender equality in development cooperation through gender mainstreaming and targeted gender-equality actions. It asks whether this twin-track approach delivers meaningful results, where its strengths and weaknesses lie and what is at stake in the post-2027 period. The current EU framework is ambitious and gender mainstreaming has become increasingly visible and routine across EU development cooperation. In many mainstreamed actions, gender ...