Social Europe articles on politics

The European Commission has just published its so-called New Skills Agenda. I welcome this initiative as it addresses many of the challenges of tomorrow’s labour market. At the same time, I am rather concerned that the scope of the Agenda is far too narrow. Its main focus is on raising the lowest level of skills […]

If the polls tell the truth, 86 percent of the Austrian blue-collar workers voted for the right-wing populist Norbert Hofer in the Austrian presidential elections in May. In the presidential elections in France Marine Le Pen would have reached the final round already back in 2012, had it been up to the blue-collar workers. In the US, […]

The Commission’s latest so-called Country Specific Recommendations on strengthening the European economy show a slightly greater emphasis on social issues: a welcome (if inadequate) shift, in trade union eyes. This translates into more flexibility on budget deficits, and recognition of the importance of education and training, quality public services and access to affordable childcare. The […]

The final days of the UK referendum debate look set to be dominated by social policy, centred on the question of migration, but not confined to that. The overriding issue is now economic insecurity and the dangerous political dynamic it has created. The Leave side is polling well in areas of the country which have […]

Immigration seems to be a very good thing if you look at economic research, and not just in terms of benefits for public finances in the long run, but also for natives and even low-skilled natives. Fewer dirty jobs with better pay – who can say no to that? If this were a more common […]

I have not written much on Brexit because I do not have a strong or particularly well-informed view of it. My personal hope is that Britain will choose to remain in the EU – but that is as much because of a belief that without Britain the EU will likely become less democratic and more […]

I am Scottish, British and European and happy to remain so. I am, mostly, proud of all these things. I left Scotland more than 40 years ago, but there is still a lump in my throat when I return. A recent stay in the Netherlands — liberal, tolerant and defensive of its own culture — […]

Three Labour figures — Tom Watson, Ed Balls and Tristram Hunt — have, in the past 24 hours, called for a revision to the EU free movement rules. This needs to be translated into an immediate offer aimed at swinging the referendum for Remain. Labour has to explicitly embrace renegotiation of the EU Treaty. Currently the Leave vote is […]

While Europe was engrossed in facing up to the Euro crisis, all around it the greatest refugee crisis since the Second World War was deepening. The management of the Great Recession has impoverished the continent and is polarizing it but the refugee crisis is the first that affects the center and not just the periphery. […]

The Brexit debate is a paradox. The motivations are political, but most of the argument has been about economics. The case for Brexit has been led from the right, who traditionally are most in favour of free markets, emphasise security and the ultimate sovereignty of UK law, and argue that Brexit would enhance our international […]

Across the world, populists are attracting votes with their promises to protect ordinary people from the harsh realities of globalization. The democratic establishment, they assert, cannot be trusted to fulfill this purpose, as it is too busy protecting the wealthy – a habit that globalization has only intensified. For decades, globalization promised to bring benefits […]

Brexit dominates political debate, migrants stream through borders, social protection systems are collapsing, changing forms of work are corroding conditions, unemployment levels remain high and inequalities wreak growing tensions within societies. This is a European Union in meltdown, a chaotic cacophony of conflict, divergence and competitive downturn. Or is it really? Eurofound provides a more […]