Wages should never leave workers and their families living in poverty. However, that has been the reality for one in ten workers in Europe. The EU minimum wage directive is a step in the right direction for fairer wages across Europe. Nonetheless, this directive is not an end in itself. More work needs to be done to maximise its potential benefit and ensure that wages are collectively bargained. Collective bargaining is a collective benefit: it means better outcomes for workers, the economy and society as a whole.
Economy
The newly released proposals from the European Commission on the circular economy broaden the scope of product governance and design. They provide an opportunity to move towards a holistic assessment that takes the entire product life cycle into account. The sustainable product initiative in particular provides an opportunity to increase the scope of an integrated […]
The EU response to the Covid-19 crisis has represented a Copernican revolution compared to the bloc’s approach to the previous crisis. However, the policies that have been adopted raise questions that remain to be solved, namely the revision of the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) and the future role of the Next Generation EU fund […]
Looking at our globe from above the North Pole, we are shocked at how tiny our Europe is. Russia, however, our Eastern neighbour, seems to be a giant. And indeed, Russia’s territory and military capacities are gigantic by European measures. On the other hand, the population of the EU is more than three times bigger […]
The pandemic has reminded the public that the EU relies on migrants to fill so-called ‘low-skilled’ but essential jobs and services in healthcare, food production, childcare, elderly care, and critical utilities. Migrants make up, on average, 13 per cent of the EU’s key workers. This share is almost zero in Romania, Bulgaria and Poland, but […]
More than 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, many hopes, aspirations, and expectations of the people in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe are unfulfilled despite full membership of their countries in the European Union. A new generation of leaders, based on broad, inclusive, and progressive social alliances, is necessary to achieve advanced […]
Load more