Susanne Wixforth and Lukas Hochscheidt, author at Social Europe

About Susanne Wixforth and Lukas Hochscheidt

Susanne Wixforth is head of unit in the Europe and International Department of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB). Lukas Hochscheidt is a research assistant there.

Minimum-wages directive: it’s legal

by Susanne Wixforth and Lukas Hochscheidt on 8th April 2021

Last October, the European Commission proposed a framework directive on minimum wages. Whether one likes it or not, the EU is competent to do so.

A solidaristic European strategy for public health

by Susanne Wixforth and Lukas Hochscheidt on 26th May 2020

After years of ‘public bad, private good’ ideology in healthcare, the shock of the coronavirus calls for a post-crisis European strategy to advance public health.

Exit of the avant-garde? The European social union at a crossroads

by Susanne Wixforth and Lukas Hochscheidt on 27th April 2020

Can the European Pillar of Social Rights underpin a social union—or must social rights end at national borders?

How the European Court of Justice could become the guardian of social rights

by Susanne Wixforth and Lukas Hochscheidt on 4th November 2019

The privileging of economic freedoms over social rights by the European Court of Justice could be reversed by a thorough harmonisation of European social law.

With a pandemic raging, for those countries most affected by Brexit the end of the transition could not come at a worse time. Yet, might the UK's withdrawal be a blessing in disguise? With its biggest veto player gone, might the European Pillar of Social Rights take centre stage? This book brings together leading experts in European politics and policy to examine social citizenship rights across the European continent in the wake of Brexit. Will member states see an enhanced social Europe or a race to the bottom?

'This book correctly emphasises the need to place the future of social rights in Europe front and centre in the post-Brexit debate, to move on from the economistic bias that has obscured our vision of a progressive social Europe.' Michael D Higgins, president of Ireland

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Renewing labour relations in the German meat industry: an end to 'organised irresponsibility'?

Over the course of 2020, repeated outbreaks of Covid-19 in a number of large German meat-processing plants led to renewed public concern about the longstanding labour abuses in this industry. New legislation providing for enhanced inspection on health and safety, together with a ban on contract work and limitations on the use of temporary agency employees, holds out the prospect of a profound change in employment practices and labour relations in the meat industry. Changes in the law are not sufficient, on their own, to ensure decent working conditions, however. There is also a need to re-establish the previously high level of collective-bargaining coverage in the industry, underpinned by an industry-wide collective agreement extended by law to cover the entire sector.

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Social protection during the pandemic: freelancers in the creative industries

This working paper identifies some key areas of policy intervention for advancing socially sustainable and fair solutions for freelancers working in the creative industries, who are among those who have suffered the most from the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic. In particular, the authors focus on those who work entirely on their own account, without employees (ie the ‘solo self-employed’), and who undertake project- or task-based work on a fixed-term basis.

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Industrial relations: developments 2015-2019

Eurofound has monitored and analysed developments in industrial relations systems at EU level and in EU member states for over 40 years. This new flagship report provides an overview of developments in industrial relations and social dialogue in the years immediately prior to the Covid-19 outbreak. Findings are placed in the context of the key developments in EU policy affecting employment, working conditions and social policy, and linked to the work done by social partners—as well as public authorities—at European and national levels.

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#Care4Care!

It took us a global pandemic to realise that we depend on care. Despite all the clapping from the balconies, care workers continue to work in precarious and vulnerable conditions. Women, who represent 70% of the care workforce, continue to suffer from a severe lack of recognition for both their paid and unpaid care work. It’s time for a care revolution! It’s time to #Care4Care! The Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS), together with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), has been intensively working since 2019 to monitor the EU gender equality policy agenda through a progressive lens focusing particularly on its care dimensions.

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