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Avatar photoClaes-Mikael Ståhl

Claes-Mikael Ståhl (cmstahl@etuc.org) has been deputy general secretary at the European Trade Union Confederation since September 2021. He deals primarily with social dialogue, trade and standardisation.

Democracy Under Siege: Trade Unions Rise as a Bulwark Against the Far Right

Claes-Mikael Ståhl

Trade unions are poised to defend the institutions that bind society together.

Calling Time on 24/7 Work Connectivity

Claes-Mikael Ståhl

The rapid development of new technologies is increasing pressure and forcing unlimited working time and growing stress among many workers across Europe. 

Social dialogue: defending democracy in practice

Claes-Mikael Ståhl

In the face of the threat from the far right, trade unions represent democracy’s strongest supporters.

Democracy must set the standard

Claes-Mikael Ståhl

Standardisation of how artificial intelligence is deployed in the workplace is not a technical but a political matter.

Democracy at work and in society: populist antidote

Claes-Mikael Ståhl

Trade unions and other civil-society organisations are key to fending off the threat from the far right.

Time to recognise a fifth EU freedom: solidarity

Claes-Mikael Ståhl

Tesla’s confrontation with Swedish workers highlights how solidarity must be enabled in a globalised Europe.

EU funds need stronger social conditionality

Claes-Mikael Ståhl, Judith Kirton-Darling, Jan Willem Goudriaan, Kristjan Bragason and Oliver Roethig

The rules for allocation of EU funds should be more transparent and provide a meaningful role for the social partners.

Stress at work: countering Europe’s new pandemic

Claes-Mikael Ståhl

Occupational stress has become endemic. It damages workers, their families, businesses and economies.

Social dialogue must be at the heart of Europe’s future

Claes-Mikael Ståhl

This week the European Commission will publish a proposal to revivify social dialogue. It must be more than words.

Health and safety: Europe’s patchy commitment

Claes-Mikael Ståhl and Owen Tudor

The European Union must stop compromising on the fundamental right of workers to health and safety.

Labour shortages offer trade unions valuable opportunity

Claes-Mikael Ståhl

A ‘tight’ labour market is not such a bad thing for trade unions—and therefore for workers.

Sanctions on Russia: the next phase

Claes-Mikael Ståhl

Sanctions have so far been economic and short-term. The long-term goal of political freedom in Russia must be kept in mind.

Cutting workplace accidents and diseases to zero

Claes-Mikael Ståhl

The pandemic has focused attention on health and safety. But workers were already dying just trying to make a living.

EU strategic autonomy must mean fairer trade

Claes-Mikael Ståhl

If ‘strategic autonomy’ is to define the EU’s relation to the world, linked trade deals must not mean dependence for workers.

Aiming for a revolution in world trade

Claes-Mikael Ståhl

In the neoliberal era, global trade deals have come at the expense of workers. That can and must be reversed.

S&D Group in the European Parliament Advertisement

S&D Housing Storytelling

Europeans are struggling with rising housing and rental costs, and we have been working in various ways to address this, because we believe a home is a right for everyone.
 Recently, we travelled across Europe to hear directly from people who struggle to afford a decent place to live. They shared a glimpse of how the housing crisis has affected their lives and why having a home is so important to them. Take a moment to check out their stories. They remind us why it is so urgent to act.

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New Edition - Social policy in the European Union: state of play 2025

Can Europe preserve its distinctive social model while simultaneously rearming, reindustrialising, and reorganising its economy in a more conflictual and competitive world? This is the central question raised in this new edition of the Bilan social, a reference publication released every spring for more than 25 years by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) and the European Social Observatory (OSE).

READ HERE
Eurofound Advertisement

Is financial resilience and trust in Europe faltering?

In this episode of Eurofound Talks, host Mary McCaughey and senior researcher Eszter Sandor unpack the results of the 2025 Living and Working in the EU e-survey. While headline inflation has stabilised at 2.1%, the data reveals a continent gripped by chronic precariousness, with 57% of respondents now at risk of depression. Mary and Eszter explore how this economic insecurity is impacting institutional trust and democratic engagement.

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FEPS Advertisement

The Summer issue of The Progressive Post is out! 

The EU is belatedly awakening to a changing Mediterranean sea, where more assertive regional powers are reclaiming a role.

The new issue of the magazine also reflects on how we struggle to keep pace with AI innovations, examines the uncertainties surrounding the execution of the Pact on Migration and Asylum and the risk to human rights posed by the Return Regulation, and focuses on the EU Commission's newly proposed Industrial Accelerator Act.

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Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

Climate policy measures are often met with feelings of powerlessness and disempowerment, triggering fears and resentment. This blog series asks: What does a socially just climate transition look like? How can we create acceptance for just climate policies? 

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FES Advertisement

“What is the actual purpose of the state?” – this central question is the focus of the analysis. At a time when bureaucratic processes are making life difficult for citizens, the paper proposes a three-part model. It aims at a conception of the state as a platform that helps society build the capabilities it needs to address its problems effectively.

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