Newsletter March/April 2018

The European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research is searching for a researcher to work on a broad range of issues related to labour market, migration and social policy in an international comparative perspective in the UNECE region. These include inequalities (including gender) in employment and social security, evaluation of public policies in these areas, policy analysis and consultancy.

We offer a supportive and flexible working environment and a remuneration package compatible with expertise and demonstrated experience.

We would welcome candidates to send their CV and letter of motivation by 4 May 2018 at the latest.

Further details concerning this position are available in the vacancy note.

The European Centre organised the ‘Bridge Building in Social Welfare Policy’ Workshop with the European Centre’s National Liaison Officials (NLOs) in Vienna, on 19-20 April 2018. NLOs and representatives from the Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership countries, Board Members from Austria and the Slovak Republic, and officials from the Austrian Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Health and Consumer Protection, met to exchange experiences regarding the implementation of transnational projects. They also discussed project ideas and explored different cooperation and funding opportunities. This was the first event with this format and scope, and an important step towards deepened cooperation with the NLOs in the region.

Bridging function of the European Centre

Three deliverables of the UNDP/ILO/ADA project "Promoting Inclusive Labour Market Solutions in the Western Balkans" are now published. The document pack comprises the "Status Quo Report on Integrated Case Management for Employment and Social Welfare Users in the Western Balkans", "Guidelines for cooperation between PES-Public Employment Services and CSW-Centres for Social Welfare regarding Integrated Case Management" and a "Toolkit for strengthening Integrated Case Management".

The measure for lawbreakers who need to be weaned according to § 22 StGB is characterized by restrictions of the prescribed compulsory treatment. In the debates of the Criminal Law Commission of 1955, the provisions for weaning were formulated, while drug offenders with long prison sentences were excluded from the measure. Only through § 68 a StVG, which came into force with the Great Criminal Law Reform, a treatment access was opened also for (drug) offenders convicted to several years of imprisonment. The present study is dedicated to the genesis of the weaning process and its change of meaning: Part 1 analyses the reasons for the exclusion of drug offenders.

The project, which started in January 2018 and lasts for 2 years, is implemented with the financial support from the European Union (Grant Agreement No. VS/2017/0349). EEPOW deals with the analysis and action on the best possible conditions to welcome the EU directive on posting within the different national systems of the countries involved in the project. One major characteristic of labour migration within the European Union (EU) is mobility from lower-income countries, often from Southern and Eastern Europe, towards higher-income Member states (MS) in the West and the North of Europe. Therefore, transitional periods for full access to the freedom of movement of workers in the internal European market have been applied for the latest accession countries. As a result, the posting of workers regulated by the Directive on the Posting of Workers (96/71/EC) has been one of the main channels for employment of workers from these countries to the rest of the EU until the lifting of the ban. The migratory trend is expected to continue once the candidate countries from the Western Balkans become full members, in particular when considering their recent history of migration towards EU member states since the fall of the previous political regimes. 

The EEPOW Project aims to proactively address the issue of posting of workers at its pre-accession stage by assisting Eastern European countries, especially the four candidate countries Albania, FYROM, Montenegro, and Serbia, in implementing the Directive already before it gets into force, and by assisting in the prevention of social dumping, i.e. the use of cheap labour, to minimize associated risks for workers.

The European Commission had launched several initiatives to strengthen the social dimension that culminated in the proclamation of the European Pillar of Social Rights on 17 November 2017. In response to challenges with regard to poverty and social exclusion, the Commission aims to encouraging general benchmarking to enhance the identification with the envisaged structural reforms in the Member States and to promote their implementation. 

The Austrian Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Health and Consumer Protection therefore commissioned the European Centre to identify key thematic areas for potential benchmarking processes in the social field. This Policy brief by Anette Scoppetta, Michael Fuchs and Kai Leichsenring synthesizes the results showing that benchmarking in the social field has its pitfalls when focusing on a purely quantitative target setting, and thus can only be recommended within limits in the social dimension.

This UNECE Policy Brief, to which Kai Leichsenring contributed as a Member of the UNECE Working Group on Ageing, addresses the potentials of population ageing and necessary steps to enable people to live active and fulfilling lives as they age. It is now also available in German language.

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