Social Europe

  • EU Forward Project
  • YouTube
  • Podcast
  • Books
  • Newsletter
  • Membership

Andrew Watt


Andrew Watt is general director of the European Trade Union Institute.

Andrew Watt

Recovery and Resilience: stop-gap or sea-change?

Andrew Watt 30th May 2022

The Recovery and Resilience Facility could remain a one-off crisis measure—or point to a permanent EU fiscal arrangement.

EU labour markets in the pandemic: unemployment only part of the story

Andrew Watt 9th October 2020

The good news is that unemployment has only risen modestly so far; the bad news is that hours worked have plummeted.

Emerging stronger from the crisis

Andrew Watt 1st July 2020

Europe needs to do more at federal level if a recovery plan is to be successful.

Welcome but inadequate: European measures to counter the corona crisis

Andrew Watt 20th March 2020

More monetary-policy easing is still a one-club approach—fiscal support is also needed at EU level.

Europe needs a strong macroeconomic policy core—but not a Six (or Two) Pack

Andrew Watt 6th February 2020

In light of the eurozone and, now, climate crises, EU macroeconomic policy co-ordination needs a reboot.

The European Green Deal: will the ends, will the means?

Andrew Watt 14th January 2020

The European Green Deal needs sustained political commitment, especially on ‘just transition’, if it is to realise its ambition.

Macron and Kramp-Karrenbauer: vive la différence?

Andrew Watt 21st March 2019

The proxy media exchange between the French president and the leader of the German Christian democrats is a sign of an emergent European public sphere. On March 4th something unusual—as far as I can recall, unprecedented—happened in European politics. The head of state of a member state of the European Union, the French president, Emmanuel […]

The Left-Sovereigntist Fantasy: A Response To William Mitchell And Thomas Fazi

Andrew Watt 7th November 2017

William Mitchell and Thomas Fazi (WM/TF) have written a piece that – under the presumptuous title of Everything You Know About Neoliberalism Is Wrong – offers a critique of the idea that nation states need to pool sovereignty in order to enact progressive policies and makes a plea for a “progressive emancipatory vision of national sovereignty”.  It has attracted […]

Schäuble’s Poisoned Parting Gift To The Eurozone

Andrew Watt 17th October 2017

Those who wish to leave – so a German saying – you should not seek to dissuade from so doing. To few people is the phrase more applicable than to Wolfgang Schäuble who is resigning the post of German finance minister and, with it, that of de facto head of the Euro Group. He held […]

The Strange Non-Death Of Public Welfare Spending

Andrew Watt 14th March 2017

In 2013 Colin Crouch wrote a noted book entitled The strange non-death of neoliberalism. In it he discussed why neoliberalism had managed to avoid being killed by what had appeared to be its nemesis: the global financial and economic crisis. The title came to mind on reading  some recent work on the political economy of modern […]

Germany’s Debt Brake Is Not A Model For Europe

Andrew Watt 14th September 2016

My IMK colleagues Christoph Paetz, Katja Rietzler and Achim Truger have just issued an important analysis of experience with the German Schuldenbremse (debt brake) since 2011. If you read German I heartily recommend you to consult it. We will prepare an English translation, but given the importance of the debt brake for the fiscal policy discussion in Europe (and the […]

No Good Options For The UK – Risks But Opportunities For The EU

Andrew Watt 28th June 2016

I recall many years ago discussing an industrial conflict with someone who is now a senior trade union leader. Sure I can get our people “up a palm tree”, he said. But then I have to know how to get them back down again afterwards. This common sense advice was not taken by the Brexiteers. […]

The IMF On Greek Debt – Redefining Chutzpah?

Andrew Watt 31st May 2016

A definition of chutzpah is murdering your parents and then claiming social benefits as an orphan. It is not widely recognised, but the IMF illustrates similar brazenness in the current debate on Greece’s debt burden. While not exactly pretending to be an orphan, the IMF is currently getting a lot of sympathy for its position: […]

Same ECB Medicine, Higher Dosage – Good But More Needed

Andrew Watt 14th March 2016

The ECB has announced a further expansionary shift by beefing up a range of existing policy instruments. Barring unexpected positive shocks this will not be enough to break out of a deflationary environment and convincingly underpin growth and a rapid reduction in unemployment. For that to happen fiscal policy must turn expansionary and/or the ECB […]

The Dialectics Of European Integration – A New Push For A Federal EMU?

Andrew Watt 2nd September 2015

Whatever else they might disagree about, just about everybody commenting on Europe agree about this: the succession of crises – financial, economic, fiscal, and now refugees – have set Europe’s peoples against one another. Nationalist and racist parties are gaining strength on the Right – with a real risk of Mme Le Pen becoming the […]

Why We Need Another European Council And Not a Greferendum

Andrew Watt 30th June 2015

In the late 1950s, as the Cold War increasingly appeared likely to destroy the planet, the British philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote of the game of chicken being played by the superpowers: As played by irresponsible boys, this game is considered decadent and immoral, though only the lives of the players are risked. But when the […]

Drawing The Right Lessons From The Greek Pension Crisis

Andrew Watt 8th June 2015

The Financial Times has a useful background article on the debate about pension reforms in Greece, one of the main sticking points in the current showdown, which makes a number of important points. Some comments and amplifications are in order. The article refers to groups of workers that, at least until the crisis, enjoyed very […]

Excessive Austerity Not A Lack Of Structural Reform Is Holding Back Investment In Greece

Andrew Watt 1st April 2015

A while ago I participated in a TV debate on Greece (German speakers can follow this link). One of the points of contention was whether investment in Greece has been structurally weak, hampered by overregulation or corruption – in short: it’s the supply side, stupid – or whether the country’s economic problems are primarily derived […]

Yesterday’s Rubbish: Or Why Is A Minimum Wage Different From Free Trade?

Andrew Watt 4th July 2014

Germany’s first post-war Chancellor Konrad Adenauer is usually held to be the origin of an often-quoted phrase „Was kümmert mich mein Geschwätz von gestern?“. Roughly: why should I be concerned about the rubbish I talked yesterday? Whatever the rights and wrongs of this attribution, the phrase – used to draw attention to someone who places […]

Europe’s Underappreciated Success: 10 Years Of Post-Enlargement Convergence

Andrew Watt 5th May 2014

On May 1st 2004 ten countries joined the EU in the biggest enlargement of the Union to date. Moreover it was a step heavy with symbolism. Eight of the ten – the exceptions being the two Mediterranean island economies Cyprus and Malta – had until just over a decade earlier been part of the Warsaw […]

Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

WSI Report

WSI Minimum Wage Report 2025

The trend towards significant nominal minimum wage increases is continuing this year. In view of falling inflation rates, this translates into a sizeable increase in purchasing power for minimum wage earners in most European countries. The background to this is the implementation of the European Minimum Wage Directive, which has led to a reorientation of minimum wage policy in many countries and is thus boosting the dynamics of minimum wages. Most EU countries are now following the reference values for adequate minimum wages enshrined in the directive, which are 60% of the median wage or 50 % of the average wage. However, for Germany, a structural increase is still necessary to make progress towards an adequate minimum wage.

DOWNLOAD HERE

KU Leuven advertisement

The Politics of Unpaid Work

This new book published by Oxford University Press presents the findings of the multiannual ERC research project “Researching Precariousness Across the Paid/Unpaid Work Continuum”,
led by Valeria Pulignano (KU Leuven), which are very important for the prospects of a more equal Europe.

Unpaid labour is no longer limited to the home or volunteer work. It infiltrates paid jobs, eroding rights and deepening inequality. From freelancers’ extra hours to care workers’ unpaid duties, it sustains precarity and fuels inequity. This book exposes the hidden forces behind unpaid labour and calls for systemic change to confront this pressing issue.

DOWNLOAD HERE FOR FREE

ETUI advertisement

HESA Magazine Cover

What kind of impact is artificial intelligence (AI) having, or likely to have, on the way we work and the conditions we work under? Discover the latest issue of HesaMag, the ETUI’s health and safety magazine, which considers this question from many angles.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Eurofound advertisement

Ageing workforce
How are minimum wage levels changing in Europe?

In a new Eurofound Talks podcast episode, host Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound expert Carlos Vacas Soriano about recent changes to minimum wages in Europe and their implications.

Listeners can delve into the intricacies of Europe's minimum wage dynamics and the driving factors behind these shifts. The conversation also highlights the broader effects of minimum wage changes on income inequality and gender equality.

Listen to the episode for free. Also make sure to subscribe to Eurofound Talks so you don’t miss an episode!

LISTEN NOW

Foundation for European Progressive Studies Advertisement

Spring Issues

The Spring issue of The Progressive Post is out!


Since President Trump’s inauguration, the US – hitherto the cornerstone of Western security – is destabilising the world order it helped to build. The US security umbrella is apparently closing on Europe, Ukraine finds itself less and less protected, and the traditional defender of free trade is now shutting the door to foreign goods, sending stock markets on a rollercoaster. How will the European Union respond to this dramatic landscape change? .


Among this issue’s highlights, we discuss European defence strategies, assess how the US president's recent announcements will impact international trade and explore the risks  and opportunities that algorithms pose for workers.


READ THE MAGAZINE

Social Europe

Our Mission

Team

Article Submission

Advertisements

Membership

Social Europe Archives

Themes Archive

Politics Archive

Economy Archive

Society Archive

Ecology Archive

Miscellaneous

RSS Feed

Legal Disclosure

Privacy Policy

Copyright

Social Europe ISSN 2628-7641