Social Europe

Taking inequality seriously—and tackling it seriously

Rising inequality is a challenge for the multilateral system, Jayati Ghosh writes, which must first measure it properly.

Changing the face of trade-union leadership

Christiane Benner

Women are increasingly assuming leading roles in trade unions. Next comes changing organisational cultures.

Nature Restoration Law: an opportunity crucial to seize

Patrick ten Brink, Faustine Bas-Defossez and Laura Hildt

The EU Nature Restoration Law has been saved but with its ambition deeply eroded—negotiators must restore its aspirations.

‘Social media’: the harms to women and girls

Debbie Ging and Kirsty Park

Europe needs to address a major factor in the mental-health crisis facing adolescent girls in particular.

Election in Spain: Faustian pact with far right looms?

Bonnie Field and Sonia Alonso

Parliamentary elections this weekend in Spain could see the far-right party win a share of power.

Access to vaccines and medicines—a new paradigm

Tania Cernuschi and Georgios Stathopoulos

Vaccines and medicines must no longer be thought of as profitable commodities but public goods.

Taking aim at sellers’ inflation

Economists and political leaders at multilateral institutions have finally accepted profits are a primary driver of inflation.

Improving working life in France—and the EU

Sofia Fernandes

In France the debate is moving from longer to better working lives, Sofia Fernandes writes, but this is a Europe-wide challenge.

European Investment Bank: structural reform needed

Frank Vanaerschot

Europe’s unwillingness to invest in public services and meet the greatest need is creating second-class citizens.

The four transitions and the missing one

Europe is at a crossroads, painfully navigating four transitions (green, digital, economic and geopolitical) at once but missing the transformative and ambitious social transition it needs. In other words, if the EU is to withstand the storm, we do not have the luxury of abstaining from reflecting on its social foundations, of which intermittent democratic discontent is only one expression. It is against this background that the ETUI/ETUC publishes its annual flagship publication Benchmarking Working Europe 2023, with the support of more than 70 graphs and a special contribution from two guest editors, Professors Kalypso Nikolaidïs and Albena Azmanova.

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Unaffordable and inadequate housing in Europe

Unaffordable housing is a matter of great concern in the European Union. It leads to homelessness, housing insecurity, financial strain and inadequate housing. It also prevents young people from leaving their family home. These problems affect people’s health and wellbeing, embody unequal living conditions and opportunities, and result in healthcare costs, reduced productivity and environmental damage.

This new report maps housing problems in the EU and the policies that address them, drawing on Eurofound’s Living, working and Covid-19 e-survey, EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions and input from the Network of Eurofound Correspondents.

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The summer issue of the Progressive Post magazine by FEPS is out!

The Special Coverage of this new edition is dedicated to the importance of biodiversity, not only as a good in itself but also for the very existence of humankind. We need a paradigm change in the mostly utilitarian relation humans have with nature.

In this issue, we also look at the hazards of unregulated artificial intelligence, explore the shortcomings of the EU's approach to migration and asylum management, and analyse the social downside of the EU's current ethnically-focused Roma policy.

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WSI European Collective Bargaining Report 2022 / 2023

With real wages falling by 4 per cent in 2022, workers in the European Union suffered an unprecedented loss in purchasing power. The reason for this was the rapid increase in consumer prices, behind which nominal wage growth fell significantly. Meanwhile, inflation is no longer driven by energy import prices, but by domestic factors. The increased profit margins of companies are a major reason for persistent inflation. In this difficult environment, trade unions are faced with the challenge of securing real wages—and companies have the responsibility of making their contribution to returning to the path of political stability by reducing excess profits.

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