About Stefan Collignon

Stefan Collignon is Professor of Political Economy at St. Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa and President of the Scientific Committee of Centro Europa Ricerche (CER), Rome. He was also Centennial Professor of European Political Economy at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and Visiting Professor at Harvard University. Apart from his column for Social Europe Journal, Stefan publishes regularly in newspapers such as The Financial Times and The Financial Times Germany.

Merkel’s Failure

by Stefan Collignon on 28th November 2017

The failure of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel to form a government after the elections a month ago came as a shock for many observers. What has happened to the “leader of the Western World”? Is German power on its “way out”? This perception is wrong. Merkel has never been as strong and successful as […]

Don’t Forget What Europe Is All About!

by Stefan Collignon on 30th June 2015

“If this is Europe, forget it“. With these words Matteo Renzi shamed his colleagues at the European Council meeting last week. I understand his frustration. After inhumanly treating refugees in the Mediterranean Sea, we now witness the breakdown of the Euro talks. But we must not forget what Europe stands for. I have never been […]

How To Create A Real European Social Market Economy

by Stefan Collignon on 3rd February 2015

Europe’s citizens are torn between the European integration project, which requires market liberalization and competition rules promising greater welfare, and national welfare states, which are the framework for redistributive policies and provide social protection. Yet, the European Union is not averse to social welfare. The European model aims for “a highly competitive social market economy” […]

Time for substantial minimum wage rises and a European minimum wage policy

Minimum wages in most European Union (EU) countries were increased at the start of 2019, with an median increase of 4.8 % compared with the previous year, continuing the recent trends towards faster minimum wage growth. Much of this is accounted for by substantial increases in Eastern Europe together with efforts to undertake permanent and structural increases in minimum wage levels in countries such as Spain. There is also a growing debate over the role of minimum wages for the concept of Social Europe, which is expected to play a significant role in the 2019 European Parliament elections. In this context, the German government has indicated that one of its priorities during its EU Council Presidency in the second half of 2020 will be elaborating a framework for a European minimum wage policy.

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Sustainable Equality Report. Well-being for everyone in a sustainable Europe

Our societies are in the midst of political, economic, social and ecological crises, which permanently feed into each other, and already undermine democracy. Progressive politics with a common and strong vision are crucially needed. Ahead of the next European elections, the Sustainable Equality Report championed by the S&D Group through its Progressive Society initiative addresses this need, resulting in more than 100 concrete policy proposals by thirty policy-makers and renowned experts.

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Trade scenario: Employment implications in Europe of a large increase in global tariffs

This new report shows that the world’s largest economies, particularly the EU, China, the US, Mexico and Canada, are projected to suffer economically from the re-emergence of economic protectionism, and a significant increase in trade tariffs. In the case of the EU, the bloc would experience a 1% contraction in GDP, a 0.3% lower rate of employment, and a 1.1% decrease in imports by 2030, compared to a ‘no new tariffs’ baseline scenario.

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Zygmunt Bauman was a towering intellectual who saw and analysed – right up to his death in early 2017 – the great socio-political changes, often convulsive, in modern western society long before his peers. Here we highlight his prescient insights into what he dubbed ‘liquid modernity’ with 24 chapters on topics ranging from online loneliness via precarity/poverty/inequality to migration, fear of the ‘Other’ and the decline of the nation state. Chronicle of Crisis, 2011-16, written by one of the great chroniclers of our times, will be read and re-read for decades and more to come.

Work in the platform economy

This paper presents a case study of the food delivery platform, Deliveroo, in Belgium in 2016-2018. The case offers insights on the nature of platform work, the workers who perform it, the preferences of workers, the strategy of the platforms, and the role of local regulations. Interestingly, Deliveroo in Belgium employed workers through an intermediary, SMart, and we also observed the termination of their co-operation in the period under analysis. Using administrative data provided by SMart and a survey of workers, we analyse patterns of work and also focus on pay.

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