Social Europe & Jobs Archives

There are frighteningly few cyber security experts with the right skills in the electricity industry, warns Michael John. While there is room for hope in the longer-term, he outlines what can be done now to plug the gaps.

Travellers grappled with another crippling wave of transport strikes in France on Sunday (8 April), as train workers protested President Emmanuel Macron's economic reforms and a stand-off between the government and rail unions hardened.

European air travellers faced mass disruption on Tuesday (3 April) with up to half of all flights delayed after the system that manages air traffic for the continent broke down.

A Council of Europe project to help refugees to have their qualifications recognised abroad was extended to include more countries on Wednesday (28 March).

The number of beneficiaries of the Erasmus+ programme in France increased in 2017, thanks to a greater budget for the European exchange programme.

On this single issue, David Cameron was right. Member states must have the option to index child benefits to the cost of living where the benefits are paid out, write Morten Loekkegaard and Troels Lund Poulsen.

Offering internships and traineeships to young people without real prospect of employment and adequate remuneration violates the original nature of these instruments, writes Brando Benifei.

Although the EU member states recently reached an agreement to tighten posted worker controls, another door has been opened to social dumping, warn Vania Grigorova and Anastaska Todorova, representing two trade unions in Bulgaria.

Returning foreign fighters, along with home-grown radicals, are heightening concerns that further attacks could be afoot. Dr. Demir Murat Seyrek and Amanda Paul argue there is room to beef-up security measures without creating a “police state” and maintaining respect for individual rights and liberties.

The design of Crocs, an opinion-dividing American line of footwear, is no longer valid in the European Union, after the bloc’s top court backed a decision by the EU’s intellectual property office to nullify it, citing a lack of “novelty”.

If social dialogue is to remain useful it will have to adapt to changes in the labour market. New, atypical forms of work have blurred the lines of the employee-employer relationship. The representativeness of these relations is a key issue. EURACTIV.fr reports.

The European Commission wants to set up a new EU agency to oversee cross-border labour disputes and manage the growing number of people who travel within the bloc for work. The agency would receive a budget of €50 million and open before the current Commission’s term ends next year.

The European Parliament debated on Monday (12 March) the problems facing a landmark convention on protecting women from violence, which several member states, including Bulgaria, have yet to ratify. But Bulgaria, the current holder of the rotating EU presidency, was notable in its absence.

Spain marked International Women's Day yesterday (8 March) with an unprecedented strike in defence of their rights that saw hundreds of trains cancelled and massive protests held in Madrid and Barcelona.

Criticised for its lack of action on the social dialogue, the European Commission could reverse the trend this year with a “Fairness Pack” in mid-March that will include the creation of a European Labour Authority. EURACTIV.fr reports.

On the eve of International Women’s Day, European Commissioner Věra Jourová, in charge of gender equality, slammed EU member states for not eliminating pay and pension gaps fast enough.

Unusually low fuel prices in Bulgaria are probably the result of cartels, or contraband, Bozhidar Danev told EURACTIV.com in an exclusive interview, saying the authorities have  so far been unable or unwilling to address the issue.

The EU is in contact with other countries to forge a coordinated response to US President Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium, but the Europeans warn that they will be prepared to respond “with or without them”.

Digitization is on everyone’s lips and will change the working world in the next couple of years. For employers this poses a range of risks – but could also open some chances, as a recent analysis shows. EURACTIV Germany reports.

The European Union reached a tentative agreement on Thursday (1 March) to tighten employment rules for workers who move to richer member states in order to earn more money but also risk undercutting wages in their adopted country.

The answer to two major European conflicts, Brexit-induced financial problems and the refugee crisis, could be welfare-enhancing. Only after implementing solutions to those problems can Europe start to reform governance and boost innovation, writes Karl Aiginger.

One of the main discussion points of the  informal summit in Brussels on 23 February is the EU's post-2020 long-term budget, however the topics to be debated on the matter are limited and do not take into account the Pillar of Social Rights, writes Thiébaut Weber.