Preface :The University of Florence acted as the coordinator of a research project called 'La dimensione europea ed internazionale del diritto del lavoro: un laboratorio fiorentino di ricerca', launched by Professor Silvana Sciarra in collaboration with the Universities of Boston, Cambridge, Catania, Eichstatt Ingolstadt, EUI, Lyon II, Madrid Complutense, and Venezia....To date, it has given rise to several international collaborations. One of the sub-headings of the project dealt with labour market reforms in Member States of the EU, linked with the European employment strategy. Following a workshop held at the Law Faculty of the University of Cambridge on 16 and 17 March 2007 entitled 'Flexibility and Security in Temporary Work - A Comparative and European Debate', the topic selected by some members of the research group as a case study was 'Fixed Term Contracts'. The papers contained in this document reflect the approach adopted during the workshop. They focus on certain common legal features of fixed term contracts, but also rely on statistical figures where relevant. A 'model paper' was circulated in order to acquire homogeneous information from all of the countries involved in this project. The publication on-line of what should be considered as 'work in progress' is meant to stimulate comments and attract interest on a topic which is very central in current European discussions and will constitute the basis of a second stage of future research.