Eurofound a tripartite EU agency

Eurofound

Rome [ENA] The European Foundation for the improvement of living and working conditions (Eurofound) was established by Council Regulation (EEC) No 1365/753 to support the planning and establishment of better living and working conditions through action intended to increase and disseminate knowledge likely to assist this development. Every four years Eurofound reexamines its strategy and the orientation to be given to its work

and after extensive consultation prepares a four-year rolling programme. Within the context of the four-year programme, a detailed annual programme of work is organized and proposed for adoption by the Governing Board. The programmes are the outcome of detailed deliberations of the groups making up the Governing Board as well as with the Institutions of the Union. Eurofound should provide policy makers, the social partners and other relevant stakeholders with specialized and added value information in its area of expertise. Since its establishment in 1975 Eurofound has played an important role in encouraging the improvement of living and working conditions all over the European Union.

At the same time the concepts and significance of living and working conditions have evolved under the influence of societal developments and major changes in the labour markets and with regard to living and working conditions. As the three tripartite agencies, Eurofound, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) and the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop), deal with issues related to the labour market and working environment and vocational education and training and skills, close coordination among them is required. The agencies should consequently complement one another in their work where they have similar fields of interest, while improving tools that function well, such as the

Memorandum of Understanding between Eurofound and EU-OSHA. They should exploit ways to boost efficiency and synergies and avert any duplication in their mandates, objectives and activities, between each other and between them and the Commission. Furthermore, Eurofound should search for an efficient cooperation with the internal research capacities of the Union institutions. Eurofound is looking at the broader implications for working conditions, labour regulation and beyond of the increasing scale and scope of digital technologies for the labour market.

At the moment the employment impact of game-changing technologies in services is being explored. Eurofound also is investigating the implications of the platform economy, notably platform work, for the labour market. Additionally, research on the working and employment conditions of ICT-based mobile workers is being continued. The nature of work and employment in the digital age are investigated, with a focus on the opportunities and policy challenges related with specific forms of employment which are new or expanding and altered ways of work organization as a result of technological change.