Social Europe & Jobs Archives

Austria, now easing its coronavirus lockdown, will ensure key workers pay less tax while multinationals should pay more as it seeks to accelerate the revival of its economy, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said in a televised address on Monday (27 April).

Germany's coalition parties on Thursday (23 April) agreed to further measures worth some €10 billion to shield workers and companies from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Unable to work part-time jobs under the coronavirus lockdown, some students in French universities are surviving on food donated by the authorities as they struggle to meet living expenses. Queuing for food handouts has become a ritual for many students trying …

Recovery from the unprecedented economic crisis requires not only high-level stimulus for listed corporates and increased funding for government agencies but a focus on the often forgotten engine of the economy and our largest employer - Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), writes Tsvetelina Penkova.

Unemployment in Europe could nearly double in the coming months, with up to 59 million jobs at risk from permanent cutbacks as well as reductions in pay and hours because of the coronavirus pandemic, estimates from consultancy McKinsey said.

The EU's new policy to provide financial support to workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic is a bold new initiative. But it is not a panacea, and risks being over-hyped, writes László Andor.

Denmark has always prided itself on its "flexicurity" model that marries the free market with a welfare society, but in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has chosen another strategy.

Spain moved on Tuesday (7 April) to tackle a shortfall of farm workers due to the coronavirus crisis by authorising the temporary hiring of tens of thousands of immigrants or jobless people.

Lockdown measures decided across the globe to fight the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, are having “devastating” consequences on labour markets, affecting around 81% of the world’s workforce, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) warned on Tuesday (7 April).

EU citizens need a guaranteed universal income until normal economic activity returns, argues Pere Aragonès.

Europe needs debt mutualisation and a common Marshall plan to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez told German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Confirmed coronavirus cases in Portugal pushed past the 10,000 mark on Saturday (4 April), while government data showed more than half a million Portuguese workers were at risk of being temporarily laid off due to the outbreak.

Germany will allow foreign workers into the country to help harvest fruit and vegetable crops on farms, the government said on Thursday (2 April), relaxing previous travel restrictions imposed to combat the new coronavirus.

With more than 800,000 jobs lost in March, Spain’s labour market has suffered its worst month on record due to the coronavirus, the Spanish government said on Thursday (2 April). EURACTIV's partner EFE reports.

As the coronavirus outbreak confines millions of Europeans to their homes, others still show up every day to perform jobs too often undervalued -- from truck drivers and checkout clerks to security guards and street sweepers.

The French government has called on the technically unemployed French to make themselves available to help farmers with seasonal harvests. But such 'agricultural patriotism' does not bode well with the tightening of containment. EURACTIV France reports.

Return home or stay to earn a living far from your loved ones? That's the dilemma being thrown up for workers who rely on shuttling across frontiers in Central Europe now that the coronavirus pandemic has seen several countries shut their borders.

France will close from Monday all nurseries, schools and universities to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus, President Emmanuel Macron said in a televised address on Thursday (12 March), calling the outbreak the nation's worst public health crisis in a century.

The European Green Deal risks deepening economic and social divisions between east and western EU countries, trade unions say, warning the 27-member bloc risks imploding before it reaches its 2050 climate neutrality goal.

While the European Commission has just presented its Gender Equality Strategy, European Commission Vice-President for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová insisted in an interview with EURACTIV France that the fight against stereotypes and violence against women must continue.

German Family Minister Franziska Giffey of the Social Democrats (SPD) wants to expand the quota of women in the workplace to apply to supervisory and management boards. While coalition partners have criticised her plans, she remains determined not to give up on the potential of qualified women. EURACTIV Germany reports.

The Spanish government, a coalition of moderate socialists and radical leftists, adopted new legislation on Tuesday (3 March) to prevent gender violence and sexual assaults, which are on the rise in Spain, EURACTIV’s partner EuroEFE reported. The …

The European Commission revealed on Wednesday (26 February) which specific parts of the EU are eligible to split a €7.5 billion-strong climate fund, earmarked for spending on cleaning up heavy industry and supporting workers in the fossil fuel industry.