“Security” in the EU. An overview of the passive and active labour market policies in the Netherlands, Poland, Italy, Spain and Greece.

Abstract

Due to the economic crisis, unemployment has become a major issue in many countries. Different paths are used in order to tackle the rising numbers and to conserve the financial sustainability of the system. Here, we can distinguish several aspects, a focus on insertion in the labour market through employment services, but also the activation duty linked to the right to unemployment or social assistance benefits. This book aims at providing an overview of the development in five countries, the Netherlands, Poland, Italy, Spain and Greece, focussing on the question of security. Security is understood as one of those conditions, which support the unemployed in their transitions from an unemployment situation to a job. In this perspective, both unemployment benefits and activation measures are worth to provide “security”.