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Philippe Pochet


Philippe Pochet, former general director of the European Trade Union Institute, is a fellow of the Green European Foundation and an affiliate professor at Sant’Anna College, Pisa.

Philippe Pochet

Renewing the welfare state, Europe’s green trump card

Philippe Pochet 20th March 2024

The untapped potential of European welfare states must be unleashed in light of the climate emergency.

Europe needs a social compass

Philippe Pochet 4th May 2023

Europe is undergoing multiple transitions. For these to succeed, social dialogue to build consensus will be essential.

A single market for the future

Philippe Pochet 19th April 2022

War in Ukraine, the climate challenge and the concept of strategic autonomy are paving the way for a new type of single market.

Structural solutions for structural inequalities—a trade union perspective

Philippe Pochet 3rd December 2021

Responses to the pandemic have upended the idea that ‘there is no alternative’ to macroeconomic policies engendering widening inequality.

La mondialisation, les télémigrants et les conditions de travail

Philippe Pochet 19th November 2021

Le risque d’une possible délocalisation des services dans le cadre de la mondialisation de l’économie n’est pas une question neuve.

Globalisation, telemigrants and working conditions

Philippe Pochet 19th November 2021

The globalisation of service work may not bring the major job losses feared—but it could weaken workers’ power significantly.

The four ‘I’s of a new socio-ecological contract

Philippe Pochet 1st March 2021

A ‘socio-ecological contract’ has emerged as a way to conceive the transitions needed to steer out of today’s crises to safer harbour. What does it entail?

Four scenarios for Europe’s future after the crisis

Philippe Pochet 30th April 2020

What kind of Europe will take shape after the coronavirus crisis? Four scenarios, widely varying in their social and ecological consequences, are possible.

One Person, One Car? The Digital Revolution’s Platform Economy

Philippe Pochet 25th November 2015

Before the ‘digital revolution’ things were relatively simple. A taxi equalled a car plus a driver. This driver could be self-employed or employed by a taxi company – or, possibly, a member of a cooperative. He or she paid taxes and social security contributions. Taxi-driving was an occupation, usually both full-time and long-term (except in […]

Are Trade Unions In Crisis?

Philippe Pochet 5th May 2015

Over the last few decades, trade unions in most European countries (a noteworthy exception being Belgium) have suffered a more or less drastic drop in membership – a trend that has been barely affected in either direction by the advent of economic and financial crisis in 2007. But this ‘stability’ does not go far enough […]

The European Social Dialogue: Time For A Choice

Philippe Pochet 19th March 2015

The European Social Dialogue this year celebrates its 30th anniversary (1985-2015). On 6 March, to mark the occasion and provide new impetus, the European Commission organised a major conference. The six conference workshops were indicative of the direction envisaged by the Commission. The first was social partner involvement in economic governance and the European Semester, […]

The Nordic Model Is No Longer A Holy Grail

Philippe Pochet 4th March 2015

The European social model, virtually forgotten since the 2000s, is making a long-overdue comeback as the effects of the 2008 financial crisis continue to damage European society and exacerbate inequality levels. But this welcome change coincides with significant upheavals in the Nordic model, always seen as “best-in-class”. This has elemental consequences for Europe’s trade unions. […]

Is California A Model For Europe?

Philippe Pochet 18th July 2014

The new European Parliament has to turn its attention to numerous pressing issues. I shall refer here to three of them: the socio-ecological transition, growing inequality, and EMU. The socio-ecological transition will require policy action geared simultaneously to the short, the medium and the long term. This means devising an appropriate policy mix deriving from […]

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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

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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.

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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.

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