On 26 April the European Commission presented its long-awaited proposal for establishing a European Pillar of Social Rights designed to achieve ‘upward convergence’. Very much
For US President Donald Trump, the measure of a country’s economic strength is its current-account balance – its exports of goods and services minus its
Emmanuel Macron’s victory over Marine Le Pen was much-needed good news for anyone who favors open, liberal democratic societies over their nativist, xenophobic counterparts. But
The European Commission, mindful again – finally – of its political role and responsibilities to uphold the law and the values of the European Union,
The first contacts between the lead European Commission Brexit negotiators and the UK prime minister Theresa May appear to have got off to a disastrous
Even if it is likely to be averted in the second round of the Presidential election, France’s populist temptation should not be underestimated, as it
There is a general perception in the UK that the remaining EU states, and Germany especially, would like to punish Britain for withdrawing from the
A lot can happen between now and the second round of the French presidential election on May 7, so it is still too early to
In her article ‘Unconditional Basic Income is a Dead End’, Anke Hassel rejects basic income as a threat to individual development and social integration, claiming
Historically, tax systems evolve following the evolution of taxable bases (actual and potential). In other words, governments over the centuries and millennia used to “follow
The greatest challenge facing a fragmented and divided Europe is how best to engage with Russia, with whom we share the European continent. The EU
While international opinion polls recorded uniformly negative reactions to Donald Trump’s election, the markets reacted positively, except for a few hiccups mostly caused by Trump-generated
Equality of opportunity and upward social mobility are important aspects of the European social model. Until quite recently concerns about rising inequalities were often countered
The centrist Emmanuel Macron’s success in the first round of the French presidential election is likely to re-energize Europe. Unlike the other candidates, Macron does
When the nuts and bolts of the long-awaited European Pillar of Social Rights are unveiled at the end of April, the European Commission will at
When founded in 1957, the then European Economic Community comprised six relative prosperous countries, albeit including a very poor region, the Italian Mezzogiorno. With the
Western democracies are facing a new threat: pessimism. Recent surveys reveal that 65 percent of Europeans and North Americans think the world is getting worse