Social Europe

politics, economy and employment & labour

  • Projects
    • Corporate Taxation in a Globalised Era
    • US Election 2020
    • The Transformation of Work
    • The Coronavirus Crisis and the Welfare State
    • Just Transition
    • Artificial intelligence, work and society
    • What is inequality?
    • Europe 2025
    • The Crisis Of Globalisation
  • Audiovisual
    • Audio Podcast
    • Video Podcasts
    • Social Europe Talk Videos
  • Publications
    • Books
    • Dossiers
    • Occasional Papers
    • Research Essays
    • Brexit Paper Series
  • Shop
  • Membership
  • Ads
  • Newsletter

A capital idea: corporate taxation in a globalised era

US election 2020

The transformation of work

Most popular

Germany bows to Keynes, again

Germany bows to Keynes, again

by Thorvaldur Gylfason on 5th January 2021

Say it quietly, but Germany has learnt the lessons of Keynes. Would that others had done so too.

Capital and ideology: interview with Thomas Piketty

Capital and ideology: interview with Thomas Piketty

by Thomas Piketty on 23rd December 2020

Thomas Piketty tells Robin Wilson how wealth and power can be transferred from capital to workers and citizens.

Gig workers’ rights and their strategic litigation

Gig workers’ rights and their strategic litigation

by Aude Cefaliello and Nicola Countouris on 22nd December 2020

A window of opportunity has opened up to utilise EU law on health and safety to advance the rights of ‘gig’ workers in domestic courts.

The infrastructural power of platform capitalism

The infrastructural power of platform capitalism

by Funda Ustek-Spilda, Fabian Ferrari, Matt Cole, Pablo Aguera Reneses and Mark Graham on 16th December 2020

We can’t go back to a world without labour platforms, so their proprietary digital infrastructure must be recreated as a public good.

New forms of employment in Europe—how new is new?

New forms of employment in Europe—how new is new?

by Irene Mandl on 15th December 2020

Standard employment is not simply being replaced by non-standard work. But work is becoming more diverse and policy must accordingly become more tailored.

The first global event in the history of humankind

The first global event in the history of humankind

by Branko Milanovic on 7th December 2020

While some talk of ‘deglobalisation’, Branko Milanovic argues that the pandemic will push forward the globalisation of labour.

Politics

Unsplendid isolation: Britain after ‘Brexit’

Unsplendid isolation: Britain after ‘Brexit’

by Paul Mason on 18th January 2021

Paul Mason writes that a Biden US presidency allied to an EU pursuing ‘strategic autonomy’ leaves a ‘sovereign’ UK with a bit-part role.

Belarus needs more than the Sakharov Prize

Belarus needs more than the Sakharov Prize

by Frank Hoffer on 14th January 2021

Strengthening of civil society, construction of democratic institutions and economic support must all figure in an EU agenda for a post-Lukashenka Belarus.

Whither America?

Whither America?

by Joseph Stiglitz on 13th January 2021

It will take more than one person—and more than one presidential term—to overcome America’s longstanding challenges.

What saved American democracy?

What saved American democracy?

by Bo Rothstein on 13th January 2021

Democracy in the United States survived last week’s assault by Donald Trump and his supporting mob. But why it survived raises questions awkward for some.

Build back better—then pay for it

Build back better—then pay for it

by Charles Enoch on 6th January 2021

The pandemic-linked crisis is not the time for fiscal consolidation. But introducing a genuinely progressive tax system will become essential.

Economy

MEPs need to listen to more voices on artificial intelligence

MEPs need to listen to more voices on artificial intelligence

11th January 2021 By Aida Ponce Del Castillo

The European Parliament’s committee exploring AI needs to give the floor to civil society. Big Tech has had enough influence.

EU-China investment deal: a ‘values-based’ relationship?

EU-China investment deal: a ‘values-based’ relationship?

11th January 2021 By Vittorio Emanuele Parsi and Valerio Alfonso Bruno

The year-end conclusion of the EU-China investment deal was followed by a wave of arrests of pro-democracy figures in Hong Kong—not a good look.

A European job guarantee to foster wellbeing

A European job guarantee to foster wellbeing

7th January 2021 By Giorgos Argitis and Nasos Koratzanis

Short-time working has saved many livelihoods during the pandemic. But the EU needs to go on to the front foot with a job guarantee programme.

Protecting European migrants’ rights

Protecting European migrants’ rights

5th January 2021 By Jasmin Abdel Ghany

National and EU-level action are needed to make seasonal labour migration in the single market a ‘win-win’ for the member states involved.

Germany bows to Keynes, again

Germany bows to Keynes, again

5th January 2021 By Thorvaldur Gylfason

Say it quietly, but Germany has learnt the lessons of Keynes. Would that others had done so too.

Society

Reinforced European Youth Guarantee can be a lifeline

Reinforced European Youth Guarantee can be a lifeline

18th January 2021 By Sergei Stanishev, Iratxe García Pérez, Ana Mendes Godinho, Agnes Jongerius and László Andor

A strengthened European Youth Guarantee allows member states to tackle rising youth unemployment—Eurostat figures show that’s urgent.

Our good health: economic fuel or core value?

Our good health: economic fuel or core value?

14th January 2021 By Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis, Gediminas Cerniauskas and Birute Tumiene

Solidarity in health has never been so urgent or imperative—a European Health Union would be its ideal expression.

Designing vaccines for people, not profits

Designing vaccines for people, not profits

2nd December 2020 By Mariana Mazzucato, Henry Lishi Li and Els Torreele

For all the hope spurred by the efficacy announcements of multiple Covid-19 vaccine candidates, national and private interests are trumping health justice.

Not part of Europe anyway?

Not part of Europe anyway?

30th November 2020 By James Wickham

The language of the Brexit stand-off is of a ‘level playing-field’ versus ‘sovereignty’. But beneath that, it’s about divergent social models.

Ecology

No time to spare for the Paris climate promise

No time to spare for the Paris climate promise

12th January 2021 By Mary Robinson

Having squandered past opportunities and shirked previous commitments, we now must start making up for lost time.

Legal hurdles facing a green and just transition

Legal hurdles facing a green and just transition

24th November 2020 By Ingo Venzke

The irony of genuinely ‘free trade’ is only regulation enables it. Europe cannot lead the ecological transition without recognising this.

How public development banks can help nature

How public development banks can help nature

17th November 2020 By Elizabeth Mrema and Carlos Manuel Rodriguez

Public development banks will be critical to global efforts to ‘build back better’. They should complement their climate investments with nature-based goals.

Trade unions and climate change: the jobs-versus-environment dilemma

Trade unions and climate change: the jobs-versus-environment dilemma

12th November 2020 By Adrien Thomas and Nadja Dörflinger

Unions can be torn between mitigating climate change tomorrow and saving jobs today. A significant Just Transition Fund could ease that dilemma.

Eurofound advertisement

Industrial relations: developments 2015-2019

Eurofound has monitored and analysed developments in industrial relations systems at EU level and in EU member states for over 40 years. This new flagship report provides an overview of developments in industrial relations and social dialogue in the years immediately prior to the Covid-19 outbreak. Findings are placed in the context of the key developments in EU policy affecting employment, working conditions and social policy, and linked to the work done by social partners—as well as public authorities—at European and national levels.


CLICK FOR MORE INFO

Foundation for European Progressive Studies Advertisement

Read FEPS Covid Response Papers

In this moment, more than ever, policy-making requires support and ideas to design further responses that can meet the scale of the problem. FEPS contributes to this reflection with policy ideas, analysis of the different proposals and open reflections with the new FEPS Covid Response Papers series and the FEPS Covid Response Webinars. The latest FEPS Covid Response Paper by the Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, 'Recovering from the pandemic: an appraisal of lessons learned', provides an overview of the failures and successes in dealing with Covid-19 and its economic aftermath. Among the authors: Lodewijk Asscher, László Andor, Estrella Durá, Daniela Gabor, Amandine Crespy, Alberto Botta, Francesco Corti, and many more.


CLICK HERE

Social Europe Publishing book

The Brexit endgame is upon us: deal or no deal, the transition period will end on January 1st. With a pandemic raging, for those countries most affected by Brexit the end of the transition could not come at a worse time. Yet, might the UK's withdrawal be a blessing in disguise? With its biggest veto player gone, might the European Pillar of Social Rights take centre stage? This book brings together leading experts in European politics and policy to examine social citizenship rights across the European continent in the wake of Brexit. Will member states see an enhanced social Europe or a race to the bottom?

'This book correctly emphasises the need to place the future of social rights in Europe front and centre in the post-Brexit debate, to move on from the economistic bias that has obscured our vision of a progressive social Europe.' Michael D Higgins, president of Ireland


MORE INFO

Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

Renewing labour relations in the German meat industry: an end to 'organised irresponsibility'?

Over the course of 2020, repeated outbreaks of Covid-19 in a number of large German meat-processing plants led to renewed public concern about the longstanding labour abuses in this industry. New legislation providing for enhanced inspection on health and safety, together with a ban on contract work and limitations on the use of temporary agency employees, holds out the prospect of a profound change in employment practices and labour relations in the meat industry. Changes in the law are not sufficient, on their own, to ensure decent working conditions, however. There is also a need to re-establish the previously high level of collective-bargaining coverage in the industry, underpinned by an industry-wide collective agreement extended by law to cover the entire sector.


FREE DOWNLOAD

ETUI advertisement

Social policy in the European Union: state of play 2020

All chapters of Social policy in the EU: state of play 2020 consider the consequences of the unfolding public-health crisis. Contributors were asked not only to analyse key developments in the EU social agenda during 2019 but also to describe the initial Covid 19-driven EU and domestic policies between January and July 2020. The European Social Observatory (OSE) has again worked closely with the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) and renowned scholars to draw up this edition. We aim to contribute to the debate among policy-makers, social stakeholders and the research community, while providing accessible information and analysis for practitioners and students of European integration. This year’s Bilan social complements the 20th-anniversary issue of the ETUI’s Benchmarking Working Europe, a state-of-the-art analysis of the impact of the pandemic on the world of work.


FREE DOWNLOAD

About Social Europe

Our Mission

Article Submission

Legal Disclosure

Privacy Policy

Copyright

Social Europe ISSN 2628-7641

Find Social Europe Content

Search Social Europe

Project Archive

Politics Archive

Economy Archive

Society Archive

Ecology Archive

.EU Web Awards