politics, economy and employment & labour
Social Europe is an award-winning digital media publisher that publishes content examining issues in politics, economy and employment & labour. This archive brings together Social Europe articles on political issues.
“There are two sides at the moment in Europe. One is led by Macron, who is supporting migration. The other one is supported by countries that want to protect their borders.” This is how Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán described the European political landscape during his August meeting with the Lega party’s Matteo Salvini, the strongman in the […]
Ahead of Sweden’s autumn general elections support for the populist, far-right Swedish Democrats is surging, and traditional patterns of party collaboration are in flux. Is Sweden in danger of becoming ungovernable? With the 9 September general elections just days away, political activity is intense in Sweden. A few weeks ago, the so-called Almedal Week came […]
Governments, including the Swedish government, are beginning to explore how legislating could be improved in light of digital technologies. This is welcome but something that businesses and business leaders have known for some time: the data being generated by our interactions in the digital world holds more potential than just the optimisation of what advertising […]
It was a horrible evening for Karl Marx. Resting on his pedestal in the eastern German city of Chemnitz, he had to witness one of the biggest crowds shouting fascist chants in post-war Germany. The square where the sculpted giant head of the philosopher rests in what was Karl-Marx-Stadt from 1953 until 1990 had suddenly […]
Protests against the ruling coalition in Romania have been building for over a year. One of the most recent, on 10 August, which featured a large number of participants from the Romanian diaspora, made international headlines. The protest was organised by groups of Romanians working abroad, outraged by the ruling socialist PSD’s unprecedented attempts to weaken […]
Things look grim for the Swedish left when it comes to the upcoming elections, September 9. Polls suggest that two thirds of the next parliament will be hostile towards the Swedish working class and labour movement. Five right-wing parties are poised to change labour laws, create a low wage sector and weaken the power of […]
Eurostat has just published its latest unemployment figures. For the EU and Eurozone. Overall, they show continuing progress though youth unemployment remains seriously high. But the statistics do not explain why some countries have much higher rates of joblessness than others with Greece posting nearly ten times the rate of unemployment as the Czech Republic […]
What are ‘green jobs’? According to the International Labour Organization, they are “decent jobs that contribute to preserve or restore the environment, be they in traditional sectors such as manufacturing and construction, or in new, emerging green sectors such as renewable energy and energy efficiency.” Sounds great, but is it reality? The recent conference on ‘The […]
Reading the recent EU Commission Evaluation on European Works Councils is like watching this video of a Dutch fourth division soccer match: good tackle, direct run on goal, the keeper goes down, the attacker finds himself alone in front of a huge goal… and misses, completely. Inexplicably. In front of a capacity crowd. Likewise, the […]
Recent political and economic developments in Turkey have been worrying for Western governments for some time. However, busy with their own political crises, governments have been either slow or reluctant to react to these developments effectively. Having a predominantly Muslim population with a leadership potential in the Middle East as a whole, or maybe even […]
How would you characterise the migration issue today? How has it become such a hot topic, and how do you think it’s likely to develop in the future? At the moment, obviously, public policy on migration and refugees is a complete mess. It’s a broken system. In fact, it doesn’t really deserve the word ‘system’. […]
The 2019 elections for the European Parliament boil down to a war between supporters of EU integration, multilateralism and liberal values, and those who aim at a Europe of illiberal polities, often coupled with state capitalism and ethno-nationalism. In both camps, initiatives are mushrooming. Both sides have political champions and corresponding visions: French President Emmanuel […]
