This report is summarizing the findings of Work package 2 of the ECHOFunds project which conducted research on EU funds and the multi-annual financial framework (MFF) of the EU, the Charter conditionality, compliance and non-compliance with Charter rights and principles, as well as the role of national bodies with a human rights remit (NHRIs, equality bodies, ombuds institutions) and organisations representing civil society in the EU funding cycle.

The study analyses the experience of posted TCN workers in selected case study countries – Poland, Portugal and Slovenia – and during their posting assignments to other EU Member States.

Europe is undergoing significant demographic shifts, that call, among other things, for strengthening long-term care (LTC) systems. The European Centre is once more contributing to related policy discussions through an updated report on Facts and Figures on Long-Term Care and Healthy Ageing. This report provides comparative data on ageing and the state of LTC. Needs, funding, workforce trends and challenges are highlighted as well as the role of informal care, inequalities, unmet needs, and the impact of digital transformation and climate change.

The Bridge Building (BB) Peer Review Report on Fighting Undeclared Work was developed within the European Centre's Bridge Building Initiative to follow up on the successful implementation of the project BB Peer Reviews and Training—Mutual Learning Activities in BB countries (06/2021 – 03/2024).

The policy brief summarises the key findings of a related study funded by the ÖNB-Jubiläumsfonds (project number 18785). Analysis of EU-SILC data showed that at-risk-of-poverty and material deprivation of children increased during the pandemic, and that the effects intensified for traditionally vulnerable children. However, tax-benefit microsimulation (model EUROMOD) proved that COVID-19-induced policies and automatic stabilisers were partly effective in preventing a steeper increase in child poverty. Analysis of hypothetical reforms revealed that a transfer to children in low-income families would have been most cost-effective in preventing it further, pointing to a characteristic trade-off in policy design between means-tested and universal benefits.