A warning to Scrooges: cut long working hours
A right to disconect, collective bargaining and public procurement are the levers to reduce excessive working hours.
Economy
Competition policy: turn to the labour market
Weak competition on labour markets means wages are often set below the market-clearing level.
Maritime needs stronger wind to cut its emissions
The European Commission’s plan to extend the Emissions Trading Scheme to the sector falls short in driving decarbonisation.
2024: a year that will decide the future
The European Green Deal faces a fork in the road—between the politics of hope and the politics of fear—as the June elections loom.
Sharp energy-price shock met fuzzy responses
National measures adopted amid the energy crisis missed the opportunity to pursue social and climate goals.
Learning mobility: making it the norm in the EU
Even if ambitious 2030 targets were attained, Sofia Fernandes writes, learning mobility would still be a minority privilege.
‘Building back better’ needs green construction
Pursuing energy efficiency will generate more construction jobs—but that requires tackling labour shortages and skills mismatches.
Time for a job guarantee in Europe?
A job guarantee could end long spells of joblessness for millions in the EU and send a pre-election signal that a ‘social Europe’ is possible.
EU fiscal rules: time to face the contradictions
The new version of the pre-pandemic fiscal rules, if imposed, would jeopardise the European economy.
The shadow of austerity—and authoritarianism
European trade unions are mobilising today in Brussels against the austerity which would follow reimplanted fiscal rules.
Just a matter of time? The ‘right to disconnect’
Achieving the right to disconnect is becoming a test case of the European Union’s commitment to social dialogue.
EU-US relations: key to geopolitical stability
The transatlantic partnership must be strengthened to combat a range of multifaceted global challenges.
The AI Act: deregulation in disguise
The loopholes in the AI Act emerging from trilogue negotiations late on Friday could allow big corporations to slip through.
The idea of a liberal socialism
Liberalism and socialism have been wrongly counterposed. Connected, they represent a hegemonic alternative.
European constitutional reform hangs in the balance
The EU needs more coherent governance not just to accommodate its enlargement but to assume its global responsibilities.
Treaty changes for an EU that works for citizens
The European Parliament last month endorsed proposals for treaty changes which would trump nationalistic vetoes.
Investing in human security in Europe
Public investment has been skewed towards the military in the last decade when a much wider array of threats are in evidence.