Call us

  Social Europe and Well-Being  




The Social Europe and Well-being Programme (SEWB) is dedicated to achieving a stronger Social Europe fit to address the social, environmental, economic and political challenges facing the Union today. It focuses on policies that prioritise strong and resilient healthcare systems; modern and inclusive labour markets; eradicating inequalities; investing in the health and well-being of people; making European welfare states and social protection systems fit for the future.

In recent years, the European Union has come under increasing pressure as a result of permanent and overlapping crises, and the social and political repercussions these have generated. The economic and social disparities among EU member states, coupled with rising nationalism, populism, and extreme right-wing politics, all point to a need to revamp ‘Social Europe’ and put social issues firmly on the EU agenda. Through policy dialogues, workshops, and publications, the SEWB team focuses on the above-mentioned issues and finding ways to move forward. The Programme is currently working on projects such as the Well-being Economy Policy Lab and the European Health Union Task Force that will contribute to our vision of a more equal, fair, and sustainable Europe.

Publications

Health & healthcare / DISCUSSION PAPER
Is the European Health Union ready for the challenges of the 21st century?
By Elizabeth Kuiper , Danielle Brady - 12/09/2023
Youth / COMMENTARY
Going Erasmus on green cities
By Elizabeth Kuiper , Gianluca Spinaci - 05/09/2023
Social Protection / DISCUSSION PAPER
Regulating platform work: How will this impact migrant workers?
By Tommaso Grossi , Andreina De Leo - 22/05/2023
Well-being / COMMENTARY
Wanted: An Executive Vice President for the Well-being Economy
By Aileen McLeod , Laura Rayner , Elizabeth Kuiper , Danielle Brady - 25/04/2023

Contributions

Health / POLICY DIALOGUE
Putting Health on the Agenda: Practitioner Perspectives from Elizabeth Kuiper
Elizabeth Kuiper participated in EUHealthGov's third Practitioner Perspective to discuss the evolving place of health on policy agendas. 

Watch the recording here
Read the summary here.

Putting Health on the Agenda: Practitioner Perspectives from Elizabeth Kuiper
19 July 2023 - ,
EUHealthGov
Sweden / INTERVIEW
Experter om det svenska EU-ordförandeskapet: ”En framgång”
Elizabeth Kuiper was asked by Altinget to provide an evaluation of the Swedish Council Presidency, its priorities and achievements. 

Read the article here. (In Swedish)

Experter om det svenska EU-ordförandeskapet: ”En framgång”
30 June 2023 - ,
Altinget
Sweden / INTERVIEW
Interview with Sveriges Radio
Elizabeth Kuiper was interviewed by Sveriges Radio on the Swedish Presidency of the European Council. The interview provided an evaluation on the Presidency's achievements and priorities. 

Listen to the report here. (In Sweden)

Interview with Sveriges Radio
26 June 2023 - ,
Sveriges Radio


Social EU / PODCAST

A strong social Europe: Long overdue or a bridge too far?
The upcoming Porto Social Summit hopes to give a much-needed push to the European Pillar of Social Rights, the EU’s attempt to add a social dimension to its policies. But without any real power in this area, what concrete results can we expect?

In this episode, the EPC's Social Europe and Well-Being team looks ahead at the summit and explores the tension between the dream of a social Europe and doing the work of building it. They explain why EU-wide social policies are worth pursuing and how they could be implemented successfully.

The discussion also covers health, the potential role of the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility in spurring reforms, and the disproportionate effect COVID-19 has had on women in the workplace.

With Rebecca Castermans , Simona Guagliardo , Mihai Palimariciuc , Aileen McLeod , Laura Rayner

                             

Health / PODCAST

Vaccine certificates: Damned if you do, damned if you don't
An EU vaccine passport could help us get back to normal sooner, but at what cost?

Despite lingering disagreement between member states, the Commission will soon present its proposal for an EU vaccine passport. The upcoming 'digital green pass' should make it easier for EU citizens to cross borders in time for the summer holidays.

But not everyone is on board; health experts warn there are still too many unknowns about the effectiveness of the existing vaccines, while others worry about the ethical, social, and privacy implications.

With vaccine certificates becoming a potential ethical, technical and political minefield, the Commission and member state governments will have to think through all possible effects and outcomes: What are the benefits of having an EU vaccine certificate? What are the potential pitfalls? And what could be some of the unforeseen, downstream consequences in the long run?

In this episode, EPC analysts try to answer those questions, covering the health, social, freedom of movement and data privacy dimensions of the debate.

With contributions from Greek Minister of Digital Governance, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, and EPC policy analysts Simona Guagliardo, Alberto-Horst Neidhardt and Andreas Aktoudianakis; and Programme Assistant Helena Hahn.

With Rebecca Castermans , Alberto-Horst Neidhardt , Simona Guagliardo , Andreas Aktoudianakis , Helena Hahn

                             

team

Associate Director and Head of the Social Europe and Well-being programme
Expertise:
Health care, Social Europe, well-being
Senior Policy Analyst
Expertise:

Social Europe, economic governance, wellbeing economy, Recovery and Resilience Facility, the Just Transition, demographic change, the future of work


Policy Analyst
Expertise:
EU health and social policies
Policy Analyst
Expertise:
Labour rights, inequality, the digital economy,  economic governance,  international politics,  social protection and the welfare state
Programme Assistant
Expertise:
Neo-illiberalism, populism and illiberal democracies, inequality, social welfare, healthcare policy

The latest from the EPC, right in your inbox
Sign up for our email newsletter
14-16 rue du Trône, 1000 Brussels, Belgium | Tel.: +32 (0)2 231 03 40
EU Transparency Register No. 
89632641000 47
Privacy PolicyUse of Cookies | Contact us | © 2019, European Policy Centre

edit afsluiten