ABSTRACT
All member states of the European Union will be in need of labour in the near future. Three factors are decisive for this development: low fertility rates, extended life expectancy and, in most EU countries, a baby-boom generation in their late 50s and early 60s that will slowly be reaching retirement age over the coming decades. It is highly probable that, after a period of moderate growth in the present decade, the EU population will stagnate until 2030, decline after that date and age significantly in the whole period until 2050. This decline will particularly affect the workforce when the baby-boom cohort leaves the labour market and is replaced by a smaller cohort. As a consequence, EU countries will enter a phase of significant labour shortage and will be confronted with tremendous problems in financing their social-welfare systems. While such a situation may seem unimaginable at a time when the EU is experiencing a deep economic crisis, when moderate growth and employment levels of almost 11 per cent are projected for the coming years (European Commission 2012: 1), it is clear that the EU faces a serious reproduction problem with its workforce in the long run.
