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Ukraine war: 24 hours of chaos endsPolitics

Ukraine war: 24 hours of chaos ends

Tracey German

The abortive Wagner Group insurrection could have significant implications for Russia’s ability to react to Ukraine’s counter-offensive.

Ukraine: renewable energy, war and reconstructionEcology

Ukraine: renewable energy, war and reconstruction

Svitlana Romanko and Małgorzata Wiatros-Motyka

Key to Europe’s future energy security is rebuilding Ukraine’s Infrastructure with renewable energy.

Public services key to a Europe ‘beyond growth’Society

Public services key to a Europe ‘beyond growth’

Livia Spera, Susan Flocken, Jan Willem Goudriaan and 1 more

Europe must reject a return to austerity and support the workers who promote social wellbeing.

After the Pegasus inquiry: watching Big BrotherPolitics

After the Pegasus inquiry: watching Big Brother

Saskia Bricmont

The European Parliament’s inquiry on Pegasus is over; the struggle for freedom from illegitimate surveillance is not.

Europe’s green transition: securing the material baseEcology

Europe’s green transition: securing the material base

Mike Hemsley

To scale up, the EU needs clear pathways for clean-energy supply chains in mining and manufacturing.

EU’s values should dictate an ethos of hospitalityPolitics

EU’s values should dictate an ethos of hospitality

Mary Lawlor

Violations of the rights of migrants and the silencing of human-rights defenders stem from a mindset of security and control.

Europe’s moral compass, lost at seaPolitics

Europe’s moral compass, lost at sea

Gemma Bird

The Greek migrant shipwreck was another preventable tragedy at the borders of Europe.

The fertiliser conundrumEcology

The fertiliser conundrum

Jayati Ghosh

Making the global food system more sustainable and equitable is hugely complex and involves difficult trade-offs.

ECB president Lagarde: has she become unstoppable?Economy

ECB president Lagarde: has she become unstoppable?

Peter Bofinger

Asserting the need for further interest rate rises, Peter Bofinger writes, is not the same as evidencing them.

European Parliament on AI Act: still rights gaps to fillSociety

European Parliament on AI Act: still rights gaps to fill

Sarah Chander and Ella Jakubowska

The parliament has stood firm against mass surveillance but has missed the opportunity to enhance provisions.

The dam has burst: making ecocide a crimeEcology

The dam has burst: making ecocide a crime

Joanna Hosa

Russia’s war on Ukraine creates momentum for a breakthrough in adopting ecocide as an international crime.

Greek election outcome: towards a new disorderPolitics

Greek election outcome: towards a new disorder

Susannah Verney

Last month’s election produced an unexpected destabilisation of the party system and triggered a repeat contest on June 25th.

Berlusconi: populist pioneer who rode Italy into the sandPolitics

Berlusconi: populist pioneer who rode Italy into the sand

Philipp Ther

Since Berlusconi’s death, the media have focused on his persona—not Berlusconism and its legacy.

Gloves off: aggression towards frontline workersSociety

Gloves off: aggression towards frontline workers

Nadja Dörflinger, Jonas Wehrmann, Kara Ng and 1 more

Frontline staff are facing rising aggression. Employers need to reduce risks and provide support.

Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

The macroeconomic effects of re-applying the EU fiscal rules

Against the background of the European Commission's reform plans for the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP), this policy brief uses the macroeconometric multi-country model NiGEM to simulate the macroeconomic implications of the most relevant reform options from 2024 onwards. Next to a return to the existing and unreformed rules, the most prominent options include an expenditure rule linked to a debt anchor.

Our results for the euro area and its four biggest economies—France, Italy, Germany and Spain—indicate that returning to the rules of the SGP would lead to severe cuts in public spending, particularly if the SGP rules were interpreted as in the past. A more flexible interpretation would only somewhat ease the fiscal-adjustment burden. An expenditure rule along the lines of the European Fiscal Board would, however, not necessarily alleviate that burden in and of itself.

Our simulations show great care must be taken to specify the expenditure rule, such that fiscal consolidation is achieved in a growth-friendly way. Raising the debt ceiling to 90 per cent of gross domestic product and applying less demanding fiscal adjustments, as proposed by the IMK, would go a long way.


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ETUI advertisement

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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Eurofound advertisement

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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Foundation for European Progressive Studies Advertisement

Europe and the War in Ukraine: from Russian Aggression to a new Eastern Policy

Putin's invasion of Ukraine brought with it the potential to create chaos in the international system. While not a military player itself, the EU has appeared as a significant actor by aiding the Ukrainian war effort.

Our new book, Europe and the War in Ukraine, edited by László Andor and Uwe Optenhoegel, with 21 expert authors, is an indispensable source of analysis and information for students, researchers and policy-makers trying to get their heads around this war.

Together with Karl Renner Institut, Kalevi Sorsa -säätiö, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Foundation Max van der Stoel, Fondation Jean-Jaurès and Fundacja Amicus Europae, our ambition with this book is to track developments concerning the key aspects of the war from a European perspective.


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