In 2011, 218 million people aged 15 or over were working in the 27 countries of the European Union (EU). It would be inadequate to describe the workings of this labour market solely through the prism of economic activities (agriculture, industry, services, etc.). A new economic and social tool enables us to provide a deeper analysis of this complex space that is the European Union, by dividing the labour force into seven homogenous socio-economic groups, ranging from managers to the least skilled employees. This interpretative framework s useful, for example, in analysing the labour market in each country (risk of unemployment, part-time work, mobility, etc.) as well as the impact of the economic crisis on its evolution.