Eurofound's EU PolicyWatch collates information on the responses of government and social partners to the COVID-19 crisis, the war in Ukraine, rising inflation, as well as gathering examples of company practices aimed at mitigating the social and economic impacts.
The EU PolicyWatch database currently contains 2,707 measures introduced by governments and social partners to cushion the social and economic effects on businesses, workers and citizens. The data collection started in 2020 and was last updated in April 2024. More information is available on the Eurofound website:
Use the side navigation to find measures by country, type of measure, category, or target group. Use the dashboard to search and filter policy measures on the following topics by more than 15 attributes:
The database indicates for each measure to which target groups it applies, broadly differentiating between workers, businesses and citizens.
The database contains 42 specific target groups, including for example:
Financial support for heat pumps
The various regional authorities provide forms of support for those investing in an existing house, flat, apartment building or non-residential building (e.g. a commercial or office building). In Flan...
Belgium | 26 April 2024
Grants to speed up the municipalities' climate work
The Ministry of the Environment's "Municipal Climate Solutions" program has granted funds to 16 local and regional climate projects to speed up Finland's climate work. The measure aims at bringing F...
Finland | 26 April 2024
Recruitment of health professionals for people fleeing the war in Ukraine
In order to prepare for the reception of refugees from Ukraine, various emergency accommodation structures have been opened and medical services have been activated. These emergency medical services p...
Luxembourg | 26 April 2024
Eurofound identified 1790 pieces of legislation and other statutory regulations, 1041 of which were entirely new. This section gives an overview of social partner' involvement in designing and implementing these measures.
The building energy performance certificate
The building energy performance certificate is a document that divides buildings into categories (energy classes) A to G based on the energy needed for their typical use (energy needed for heating, co...
Czechia | 09 April 2024
The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development (VARAM) has developed a programme for improving the skills of local and regional specialists in the field of climate-neutral economy a...
Latvia | 02 April 2024
Ban of fossil oil heating for households and other buildings
Norway decided in 2018 to prohibit the use of mineral oil for heating buildings from 1 January 2020 onwards. The Storting requested the government in 2012 to ban the use of fossil oil for heating in h...
Norway | 08 March 2024
The EU PolicyWatch database contains 149 collective agreements. Most of them were identified in France and the most commonly found provisions relate to employment retention, income protection, and health and safety.
35 agreements additionally contain other provisions not mentioned above.
On 17 October 2023, the employers' organisation LEEM and the CFDT, FO, Unsa and CFTC trade unions signed a collective agreement on the ecological transition and sustainable mobility in the pharmaceuti...
France | 12 November 2023
The national cross-industry agreement (ANI) of 11 April 2023 on the ecological transition and social dialogue provides social dialogue actors with examples and best practices for meeting the challenge...
France | 12 November 2023
Strengthening the agreement to improve income and competitiveness
On 7 October 2023, after the first year of implementation of the medium-term agreement to improve income, wages and competitiveness signed on 9 October 2022 (PT- 2022-42/3007), the Government and soci...
Portugal | 06 November 2023
The EU PolicyWatch database contains 98 social partner initiatives. Most of them were identified in Germany and belong to the category Protection of workers, adaptation of workplace.
Further training to qualify staff for the green transition
The German Federal Government adopted the Federal Climate Change Act (Bundes-Klimaschutzgesetz) in 2019 and amended it once more in 2021. The latest amendmendts brought forward Germany's goal to achie...
Germany | 05 March 2024
High temperatures at work – EU guidelines for workplaces
On 15 May 2023, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU OSHA) published a guide providing practical guidance on managing the risks of working in high temperatures and what to do if a wor...
European Union | 03 December 2023
Competence and knowledge requirements for the green transition
In May 2021, the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) and the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) launched a joint platform for energy and industrial policy. The goal was to highlight ...
Norway | 07 November 2023
The EU PolicyWatch database contains 157 company practices. Most of them were identified in Bulgaria and the most commonly found provisions relate to health and safety, work organisation, and telework.
46 company practices additionally contain other provisions not mentioned above.
Wielkopolska province has joined the Powering Past Coal Alliance
Wielkopolska province has joined the PPCA - Powering Past Coal Alliance, the world's first international initiative to protect the climate and accelerate economic development through a rapid transitio...
Poland | 01 March 2024
Prices of selected food items to be reduced by 15%
Despite Government measures to subsidise the cost of fuels, electricity, grains and animal feeds, the price of foods in Malta continued to rise throughout 2023. Factors such as Malta's limited domesti...
Malta | 08 February 2024
The company Infinum obtained the Climate Neutrality Certificate
Socially responsible behavior has always been a part of the business culture of Croatian software company Infinum and is embedded in its values. In 2019, the company established the Infinum Foundation...
Croatia | 06 January 2024
Due to the revision process, some cases might temporarily be unavailable.
The database is updated regularly throughout the year with input from the Network of Eurofound Correspondents. This document provides information on the topical updates of the EU PolicyWatch database.
30 January 2023
Governments across the EU continue to implement policies to support citizens and businesses in the face of rising food and energy prices caused by the COVID-19 crisis and intensified by the war in Ukraine. This article summarises the policy responses as reported in Eurofound's EU PolicyWatch database from January to September 2022.
Article12 September 2022
Although the worldwide pandemic situation had already disrupted supply chains and triggered increases in energy and food prices in 2021, the situation deteriorated in 2022 with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Article12 September 2022
This article summarises the first policy responses that governments across the EU have started to implement to support companies affected by the rising prices, and those with commercial ties to Ukraine, Russia or Belarus.
Article5 July 2022
This article summarises the first policy responses of EU Member States, including those of the social partners and other civil society actors, enabling refugees to exercise their rights under the Temporary Protection Directive.
ArticleDisclaimer: This information has not been subject to the full Eurofound evaluation, editorial and publication process.