Description: The project initiated and financed by the European Commission - Directorate General Employment and Social Affairs. Its aim is to improve knowledge of socio-economic developments in the EU in accordance with Article 143 of the EC Treaty, which stipulates that the Commission shall produce a yearly report on progress in achieving the objectives of Article 136 (concerning employment, social protection and living conditions). This report is intended to analyze the interplay between demographic trends and social developments in general, with an eye toward the ensuing consequences and policy challenges. As participants in a broader consortium co-organized by ENEPRI and led by the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI), CASE experts, led by Stanislawa Golinowska, are handling Lot 1 of this contract, which covers demographic trends, including the monitoring of developments in fertility, mortality and migration and the implications of population developments for economic growth, quality of life, human resources development, the labor market, social protection, migration and family/household structures and for policies in these areas. The CASE team monitors demographic trends, prepares relevant policy analysis and advice, and reports policy developments within the member states and candidate countries with relevance to demographic trends.