The European social model faces enormous challenges from a rapidly changing global economy, technological innovation, and ageing populations. The pace of change reinforces the need to adapt working patterns, anticipate and manage restructuring, invest in the skills for a knowledge economy, and encourage social partners to strike a better balance between flexibility and security. As the nature of education and employment changes, so do the means for social protection. Understanding these changes and developing solid policy strategies on a European and national level requires well-grounded information and high-quality research, hich Panteia can provide.

From its inception, a large proportion of our research has been in the fields of employment and social affairs. Partly based on our strong position in the Dutch market, we have built an impressive track record of research projects for international clients. Our broad experience and expertise in social affairs and employment also led a number of clients to deploy Panteia in a supportive capacity.

Over the last few years, we have executed assessments, monitoring, evaluations, and analyses in the following areas:

• Employment. Labour-market developments (national, regional and sectoral); reintegration of the unemployed; harmonisation of education and the labour market; and the implementation of the European Employment Strategy in the different Member States.
• Social inclusion and social protection. Legislation and programmes to counter discrimination, discrimination and promote fundamental rights, enhance the integration of people with disabilities and improve equal opportunities for women and men.
• Working conditions: Social dialogue, labour law, working conditions, health and safety at work, corporate social responsibility, and the free movement of workers within the EU.

Should you require any further information about Panteia or one of our projects in particular, please do not hesitate to contacts us. We will be glad to be of service.

Below you will find a small selection of relevant projects that have been carried out in the last three years.

Study into the impact of the Belgian Health Care Knowledge Centre
The Belgian Health Care Knowledge Centre (KCE) was constituted by law in 2002,and came into being in 2003. It is set up as an independent institution responsible
for producing analyses and studies to facilitate decision making and policy development in three health care research fields.The mission, activities and financing of KCE are defined by law. KCE's objectives as put down in this law are "the collection and dissemination of objective elements resulting from processing registered and validated data, health economic analyses
and all other information sources in order to qualitatively support de realization of the best possible health care and to allow for optimal transparency in the allocation and use of the available resources from health care insurances by authorized organizations, taking into account the accessibility of health care for patients and the objectives of health care policy and health care insurances".
Five years after KCE started its first activities as centre of expertise, it requested an independent study into the amount of impact their activities have had until now, and into the factors that may have influenced the degree of impact achieved. Also, KCE wanted to know what lessons could be learnt from their efforts so far. Therefore, KCE formulated a special research project within its regular program to have its impact measured. The aim of the study as formulated by KCE: "to study the impact that KCE reports might have (had) on policy making and on decision making in Belgian health care. This study aims at a qualitative and a quantitative analysis of this impact".

SMEs and Labour market
This in-depth study 'SMEs and the EU labour market' is to be carried out in the context of the framework contract ENTR/2007/040-1 for the provision of Economic Studies in support of SME Policy development and implementation. The objective of this study is "providing an up-to-date picture of the overall SME impact on the European labour market and their contribution to delivering "more and better jobs" in Europe".
By systematically gathering information, the following questions needs to be answered:

• Do European SMEs deliver not only more but also better jobs?
• How can the policy environment enhance SMEs contribution to more and better jobs?

The study will cover the 27 Member States of the European Union and the following 10 non-EU countries: Albania, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Iceland, Israel, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia and Turkey.
Commissioned by DG Enterprise and Industry of the European Commission
Organisation: EIM Business & Policy Research
in cooperation with International Network for SME Studies (INSMES)

Evaluation of ESF support for enhancing access to the labour market and the social inclusion of migrants and ethnic minorities (country study the Netherlands)
The study focuses on the contribution made by the ESF in promoting the labour market and social integration of key target groups including migrants from third countries, national and ethnic minorities and the Roma. The evaluation has a number of aims, including to: (1) assess the European Social Fund's contribution to enhancing access to the labour market and the social inclusion of migrants and ethnic minorities; (2) provide guidance for the Member States on the implementation of ESP Operational Programmes in the 2007-2013 programming period in order to strengthen the effectiveness of interventions targeting these groups; (3)identify the most effective means of tackling barriers to the social and labour market integration of migrants and ethnic minorities.The study scope focuses on ESF interventions in the 2000-2006 and the 2007-2013 programming periods, but also includes the very valuable role played by the EQUAL and explores the extent to which EQUAL has been successfully mainstreamed in the ESF in 2007-2013 in respect of these target groups. Research voor Beleid / Panteia is responsible for conducting a country study of the Netherlands (as subcontractor of our partner .

Methods : Desk research, literature study, expert interviews, focus groups

Commissioned by : European Commission, DG Education and Culture

Period : January 2010 to December 2010

Evaluation of the reforms of VET in FYROM
Since 2005 there have been significant reforms in the Macedonian VET system. During the last months of 2009 and the first of 2010 a team of Macedonian experts will evaluate the results and impact of these reforms. An expert of Research voor Beleid will supervise the evaluation and coach the research team. He will also draw lessons from its results for the evaluation of the Dutch VET system.

Methods : Workshops, conferences, consultancy

Commissioned by : CROSS Bureau (Dutch Government) in cooperation with the ETF

Period : September 2009 to March 2010

A study on innovative approaches for successful integration of third country migrants in the labour market
Immigration and in particular the integration of migrants into the labour market is increasingly gaining political importance on the European and Member States' agendas. Against the background of ageing European societies and of growing labour market needs, Europe looks likely to rely more on immigration and at the same time integration of migrants into the labour market to balance supply and demand in labour markets, and more generally to fuel economic growth. However, statistics show that migrants' labour market situation is worse than that of non migrants in many MS - they tend to have much lower employment rates than the EU nationals and are often more exposed to being employed in jobs for which they are over-qualified. Labour market participation is very important for the integration of migrants in a host society. Active participation in the labour market entails contact with nationals and a more independent position for the migrant. However, to access the labour market, migrants have to overcome certain barriers that put them at a disadvantage compared to natives. In order to gain more insigth in the labour market siutation of third country migrants in Europe and the most important barriers they face, the European Commission, contracted Research voor Beleid and it's network of experts to carry out a European wide study. The purpose of this study is to identify barriers that migrants may face in gaining access to employment and to examine innovative and practical ways to improve the integration of migrants into the labour market, from an economic and social point of view.

Methods : Literature study, desk research, expert interviews, case studies

Commissioned by : European Commission, DG Employment Social Affairs, and Equal Opportunities

Period : January 2009 to January 2010

Innovative approaches to the successful integration of migrants into the labour market
Immigration, and particularly the integration of migrants into the labour market, is increasingly gaining political importance on the European agenda and that of the Member States. Against the background of ageing European societies and of growing labour market needs, Europe looks likely to rely more on immigration and the integration of migrants into the labour market to balance supply and demand, and more generally to fuel economic growth. However, statistics show that the situation of migrants in the labour market situation is worse than that of non-migrants in many Member States - they tend to have much lower employment rates than EU nationals and are more liable to be employed in jobs for which they are over-qualified. Labour market participation is very important for the integration of migrants into a host society. Active participation in the labour market entails contact with nationals and a more independent position for the migrant. However, to gain access to the labour market, migrants have to overcome certain barriers that put them at a disadvantage compared to natives. In order to gain more insight in the labour market situation of third country migrants in Europe and the most important barriers they face, the European Commission contracted Research voor Beleid and its network of experts to carry out a Europe-wide study. The purpose of this study is to identify barriers that migrants may face in gaining access to employment and to examine innovative and practical ways to improve the integration of migrants into the labour market, from an economic and social point of view.

Evaluation of career development of men and women within the European Commission
The European Commission pursues an active policy when it comes to promoting the equality of men and women in the labour market. Of course, this policy applies to its own staff also. At this moment, women are severely underrepresented in higher positions in the European Commission. Because of various action programmes, however, the proportion of women in such positions has risen sharply over the past years. Within the scope of this research project, Research voor Beleid - in cooperation with Opportunity Advies, part of Opportunity in Bedrijf - studied the career development of men and women at the Commission. Special attention was given to women qualifying for management positions and women holding such positions.

Activities to promote and develop the business case for diversity
The main objectives of the project are to further encourage the exchange of good practices and to promote the development of diversity policies and activities by businesses, employers and business schools. Key outputs include:

1. Support tools/materials to help SMEs to develop the systems and processes they need to promote diversity in a planned and systematic way;
2. The design and analysis of a questionnaire on diversity for consultation with businesses in the frame-work of the European Business Test Panel;
3. The research, drafting and production of individual reports and a compendium report on the business case for diversity focusing in on its relevance for SMEs, the linkage between diversity and innovation, the experience of diversity charters, and the feasibility of establishing a diversity network of business schools and companies;
4. The organisation of a symposium for business schools and a conference on workplace diversity in the EU bringing together company representatives and other relevant stakeholders.

EIM carries out this project in consortium with Focus Consultancy (leader); European Academy of Business in Society (EABIS) and Instituto Europeo para la Gestión de la Diversidad (EIMD).

Evaluation of European guidelines for working with display screen equipment
A study group consisting of government representatives from six European countries examined how far a systematic ex-post evaluation at the European level will contribute to the most effective and efficient health and safety regulations. With this goal in mind, it was decided to evaluate, as a pilot, the European guidelines for working with display screen equipment. Each Member State participating in the study group, individually and independently, carried out the pilot on a national level. The pilot consisted of a shared part and an optional part applying to the national situation. To guarantee mutual coherence, the evaluation was set up according to a collective Terms of Reference. By combining the national evaluations, conclusions on European level could be drawn regarding the effectiveness and efficiency of the guidelines for Working with Display Screen Equipment. Research voor Beleid carried out the Dutch evaluation.

Ex ante evaluation Dutch ESF programme 2007 -2013
For 2007-2013, each Member State was obliged to draw up an Operational Programme (OP) for the European Social Fund (ESF). The programme contained a description of the socio-economic context, the strategy, the various activities, and the implementation design. The Dutch programme was specifically aimed at labour market participation, training employed and unemployed people, and shop floor innovations that could increase labour productivity. The Operational Programme needed to be supported by an ex ante evaluation, the conclusions of which were placed in the OP. The ex ante evaluation had two objectives:

• to test whether the strategy as stated in the National Strategic Frame of reference (NSR) would satisfy the objectives, and whether, for the ESF, the chosen objectives were realistic with respect to the socio-economic context
• to create a baseline measurement of the current situation and estimate the impacts of the ESF programme

The conclusion was that the programme met the first objectives. With respect to the second objective, the evaluation report contained an overview of relevant indicators, for which, when possible, the starting position for 2005/6 was described. In addition, prognoses were made of the results of the programme, both with respect to participants' coverage (coverage rates) and the number of job-seeker placements that the programme would yield.

Ex ante evaluation of the National Development Plan for Romania
Romania entered the European Union in 2007. From that moment on it had at its disposal a considerable flow of money from the European Structural Funds. The European Union demands that these funds should be used for structural purposes. To this end, Romania drew up a National Development Plan (NDP), consisting of a National Strategic Reference framework (NSR) and seven sectoral operational programmes. Panteia had been assigned the ex ante evaluation of the NDP. Research voor Beleid conducted – as it did in Hungary in 2003 – the evaluation of the Human Resources operational programme, which concerned labour market, education, and social exclusion.

Employment for disabled people
DG Employment and Social Affairs took the initiative to initiate and finance a European Expert Group on Employment for Disabled People. The backbone of the network consisted of fifteen national experts on labour market policies and reintegration issues. EIM Business & Policy Research set up, managed and coordinated all activities carried out by the Expert Group.  In the first year of the Expert Group, available (statistical) information on the labour market position of disabled persons in the European Union was collected and analysed. This overview produced in the first year, is used as a basis for more analytical work in thematic reports in subsequent years.