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Paul Sweeney — author portrait, Social Europe Paul Sweeney

Paul Sweeney was chief economist with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions for a decade.
Socialeurope.eu — logo on red background, Social Europe.

Ireland, the EU and the Apple tax case

Paul Sweeney

Ireland led the ‘race to the bottom’ on corporate taxation. The tide is beginning to turn.

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The IRA and European industrial policy

Paul Sweeney

With the US turning interventionist, the EU will look foolish still backing ‘free markets’. Time for an enterprise policy.

Socialeurope.eu — logo on red background, Social Europe.

From ‘free-market’ to subsidised capitalism

Paul Sweeney

To deal with the climate crisis, governments must recognise that only the state has allowed the last three crises to be contained.

Socialeurope.eu — logo on red background, Social Europe.

Inflation in the strongest recovery since 1945

Paul Sweeney

Governments should ignore siren warnings that only hyperinflation can come from pandemic-induced investments.

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An effective corporation-tax system for the EU

Paul Sweeney

Tax wars have so far denied the EU the unanimity required to stop the race to the bottom on corporation tax.

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Ireland’s recovery: from bust to buoyancy … to Brexit?

Paul Sweeney

If procyclical domestic policies inflated Ireland’s economic bubble, procyclical austerity demanded by the troika which bailed it out makes Ireland’s recovery all the more remarkable.

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Ireland’s route from boom to bubble to bust

Paul Sweeney

Ireland’s volatile economic path of recent decades has wider European policy implications. Part one: the ‘Celtic Tiger’ and its demise

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The Collapse Of European Social Democracy, Part 2

Paul Sweeney

In the first part of his analysis Paul Sweeney pointed to a variety of causes behind the decline of social democracy over the past 30

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The Collapse Of European Social Democracy, Part 1

Paul Sweeney

Introduction Social Democracy (SD) has been the most powerful political force in Europe since the Second World War. It turned the nation state into the

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What Hope For Civilisation If Apple Pays No Tax?

Paul Sweeney

Brussels has been accused of “bending the rules” in its pursuit of Apple for €13 billion in taxes it says should have been paid in

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On Apple Tax, State Must Side With Its Citizens

Paul Sweeney

It is widely agreed that globalisation has brought immense benefits. But it is also recognised that these benefits are not equally distributed. Last week’s Apple

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Curbing Tax Avoidance, Tax Evasion And Tax Havens

Paul Sweeney

The aggressive tax avoidance by multinational corporations (MNCs) where they are now paying virtually no tax was highlighted recently by the takeover of “Irish” company Allergan

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How Globalisation And Technology Drive Insecurity

Paul Sweeney

People are insecure. Young people worry about getting a decent job, finding a secure home and having to pay off the vast debts run up

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My Experience With The Troika In Ireland

Paul Sweeney

The day the Troika came to town was a dark day for the Irish. Troika is a Russian word meaning a sled drawn by three

S&D Group in the European Parliament Advertisement

S&D conference The Middle East at crossroads: A progressive vision, 9 September 2026, European Parliament, Brussels

S&D conference “The Middle East at crossroads: A progressive vision”

The S&D Group is pleased to invite you to our conference “The Middle East at crossroads: A progressive vision” on Wednesday, 9 September, from 14:30 to 18:30, in the European Parliament in Brussels as well as online, where we will discuss the geopolitical changes taking place in the Middle East.

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Cover of the ETUI and OSE book Social policy in the European Union: state of play 2025.

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).

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Eurofound Advertisement

EurofoundTalks podcast with Mary McCaughey and Eszter Sandor: Is financial resilience and trust in Europe faltering?

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.

LISTEN HERE

FEPS Advertisement

Cover of The Progressive Post issue 31, Summer 2026: The Mediterranean, a crowded sea.

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.

READ THE MAGAZINE

Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

WSI Industrial Action Report 2025 cover page with red and white design.

The 2025 collective bargaining year in Germany was once again characterised by numerous strikes. The WSI recorded 261 industrial disputes in 2025. For the first time, the WSI has also quantitatively analysed the trade unions` industrial action objectives for 2025.

READ THE REPORT

FES Advertisement

Cover of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung analysis The Capability State: A Progressive Vision for the 21st Century by Henning Meyer.

“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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