All resources for country

It's World Day of safety and health at work!

The World Day for Safety and Health at Work (28 April) serves to raise awareness about occupational safety and health and gives us an opportunity to talk about the causes of work-related injuries, diseases, and fatalities, and measures to prevent them. This year, on Occupational Safety and Health Day, the focus is on the impact of climate change.

Occupational Safety and Health

Bulgaria renews its commitment to the promotion of occupational safety and health

Bulgaria ratifies the two fundamental Conventions Nos. 155 and 187.

Video

Meet the Technical Specialist: Magnus Berge, Workers' organisations

Magnus Berge, Technical Specialist of the ILO Office for Central and Eastern Europe explains how the ILO assist trade unions so that they can promote better working conditions and rights for workers in the sub-region.

Workers’ representatives in selected Central and Eastern European countries: Filling a gap in labour rights protection or trade union competition?

Informal EPSCO

Promotion of social justice essential for sustainable and equitable recovery, ILO tells EU ministers

Speaking to EU ministers of employment and social affairs, the ILO Director-General underlined the need to put social justice back at the centre of policy-making, using concerted and decisive action.

Trade unions

Workers’ rights in Europe in decline, says ITUC Global Rights Index 2023

In July 2023, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) released its 10th Global Rights Index. The report paints a grim picture of workers’ rights around the globe. According to ITUC, Europe is no longer a bastion of workers’ rights.

Bulgaria - Country baseline under the ILO Declaration Annual Review (2022) - P029

Three essential questions

What are the proven means to reduce informality?

In our series of interviews with leading researchers, economists and policymakers, we interviewed Professor Ioana Alexandra Horodnic, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University of Iași, Romania on how informality (including “envelope wages”) affects workers and society, and what measures work best in reducing it.

ILO Director-General discusses bilateral cooperation with the European Commission

During his first official visit to Brussels, the ILO Director-General met the Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, the Vice-President for Promoting our European Way of Life, and the EU Commissioners for Jobs and Social Rights and for International Partnerships. They discussed ongoing work and the priorities ahead.

Bulgaria - Country baseline under the ILO Declaration Annual Review (2021) - P029

Workers' rights

ITUC Global Rights Index 2022 shows that many workers in Central and Eastern Europe have no access to rights

In July 2022, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) released its yearly Global Rights Index. It shows that in Europe, the most frequently violated rights have been the right to strike and the right to bargain collectively. Through ratifications of ILO Conventions, governments of Central and Eastern Europe made obligations to implement workers’ rights. In reality, many workers face obstacles in accessing their rights.

Conclusions of the 16th High-level meeting between the International Labour Organization and the European Commission (2022)

ILO-EU Relations

ILO and European Commission reaffirm mutual partnership at 16th High Level meeting

Product/service offer: Informality

Voices

I dreamed a forest into life

Raya Ubenova asked herself what she could do about climate change. Her solution: to plant a forest of 7,500 trees in her home country, Bulgaria.

Youth labour markets in the EU

Three essential questions: Interview with Pola Schneemelcher, Project Manager at Institute for Macrofinance, Berlin, Germany

We interviewed Pola Schneemelcher, Project Manager in the area of labor market and fiscal policy at the think tank Dezernat Zukunft – Institute for Macrofinance. She shared her insights on how youth labour markets in the European Union were impacted by the pandemic, what measures she has seen and whether governments can afford these measures or not. The Dezernat Zukunft is a non-partisan think tank aiming at rethinking and explaining monetary, financial, and economic policy in a comprehensible way.

ILO welcomes renewed EU focus on decent work worldwide for a just transition and a sustainable recovery

The European Commission has adopted a Communication on decent work worldwide, which sets out how the EU will act upon the challenges linked to a just green and digital transition and a sustainable recovery from the pandemic.

Labour rights infringed during the pandemic

Three essential questions to Aleksandar Ristovski, Professor of Labour Law, Skopje

In the third issue of short interviews with important researchers and practitioners from Central and Eastern Europe on burning questions concerning labour and social policies, we talked to Aleksandar Ristovski, Professor of Labour Law at ‘Ss. Cyril and Methodius’ University in Skopje, North Macedonia. We asked him about the restriction of labour rights following the COVID-19 crisis, particularly those of the most vulnerable, and about how to guarantee labour rights as we are building back better.

Job-rich recovery for women

Three Essential Questions: Interview with Réka Sáfrány, President of European Women's Lobby

This is the second issue of short interviews with important researchers and practitioners from Central and Eastern Europe on burning questions concerning labour and social policies. The interviewee this time is Réka Sáfrány, newly elected President of the European Women's Lobby. We asked her about women's labour participation in the region, why the pandemic hit women disproportionally and the most vulnerable within this group of workers.

MEET THE DIRECTOR: What has been the impact of the pandemic in the region?

Markus Pilgrim, Director of the ILO Office for Central and Eastern Europe talks about the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on labour markets in the region, what the ILO has done to mitigate the impact and what the emerging trends are in employment. The pandemic led to a severe economic recession in the region, with about 8% of working hours lost in 2020, an equivalent of 10 million jobs. These losses translated into an increase in inactivity, many people dropping out of the labour market. The ILO CEE Office started to collect solid evidence on the impact of the pandemic in spring 2020, and produced assessment reports in four Western Balkan countries, which led to several policy changes in these countries. In addition, the office designed job and income protection measures, such as a cash transfer project for dismissed Albanian textile workers. The next big thing is the ongoing technological transformation, fair transition towards a digital and green economy, which means a major shift from traditional to new sectors and re-skilling.