• European Pillar of Social Rights: a blunt weapon in the fight for citizens’ hearts

    European Pillar of Social Rights: a blunt weapon in the fight for citizens’ hearts0

    The EU licks its wounds after the Brexiteers’ narrow victory in June. The Union’s support base, which has crumbled under the EU’s reaction to the economic crisis, needs an answer to prevent further decay. That answer might take the shape of what the EU is still largely lacking: a social rights dimension. But can the EU successfully wield this very sensitive national competence to fight the fear to lose authority? The answer is in the dosage. If social rights are the EU’s weapon of choice to fight its negative image, the Pillar is a blunt knife to the European citizens’ heart.

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  • When wage competition outcompetes the single European market

    When wage competition outcompetes the single European market0

    In an utterly predictable move, Social Affairs Commissioner Marianne Thyssen fought off the EU’s third-ever yellow card. The objections to her proposed amendment to the Posting of Workers Directive signalled, as usual, more than subsidiarity-related distress. But even with the yellow card spat easily shoved aside, the disagreement spells trouble: if anything, the dispute reveals a lack of vision that puts the very idea of the internal market at risk.

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  • Less employment protection, more jobs?

    Less employment protection, more jobs?0

    Following the financial crisis of 2007-2008 and the subsequent great recession, many of the OECD countries implemented structural reforms on employment protection legislation, aiming to enhance the flexibility of the labor market. This was believed to have a positive influence in preventing the reduction of existing jobs and promoting the creation of new ones. But do flexibility-enhancing reforms actually contribute to boosting employment?

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