About: flexibility
France moves towards more flexible electricity system
Energy professionals who are working on better integrating the growing number of renewable energies into the French energy mix are finding the varying number of renewable energies challenging, though aggregating multiple decentralised sources, using so-called "smart grids" and goodwill could help with better integration. EURACTIV France reports.
Commission rejects auditors’ call to tighten control of EU member states’ debt
The European Commission has rejected the European Court of Auditors’ recommendation to strengthen surveillance of EU member states with high levels of public debt.
Brussels welcomes French labour reforms as unions and left camp complain
Decried by the opposition and trade unions, the French labor reforms are praised by the European Commission and employers. EURACTIV France reports.
Symmetric flexibility: A concept to square competitiveness with increased well-being
Working time arrangements are an area with considerable scope to improve efficiency and to foster well-being. Symmetric agreements can represent a win-win situation for both employers and employees, write Thomas Leoni and Vanessa Koch.
Guindos: Growth is more important than few decimal points of deficit
“Given the global situation, the most important thing is economic growth”, Spain’s Economic Affairs minister, Luis de Guindos, said after the Ecofin council on Friday (12 February).
PIGS threaten EU’s growth prospects, Commission warns
Political turbulence in Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain is once again threatening Europe's fragile economy, the European Commission warned in its latest economic forecast, published on Thursday (4 February).
Renzi tells Merkel: ‘Budget flexibility was a promise’
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi insisted on Friday that the EU's budget rules should be interpreted flexibly and that austerity should not be seen purely as an end in itself.
Pittella: Member states are to blame for the refugee deadlock
Europe is on the brink of collapse due to the “foolish and short-minded illusions” of EU member states, Gianni Pittella said in an interview with EURACTIV.
Member states limit new flexibility clauses in EU fiscal pact
EXCLUSIVE / EU member states believe the European Commission is giving too much breathing space to struggling national economies when applying the Stability and Growth Pact, and decided to adopt a more restrictive view of EU fiscal rules, according to an official paper seen by EURACTIV.
ECB attacks Commission’s easing of fiscal rules
The European Central Bank has criticised the Commission's easing of EU fiscal rules as "counter-productive", in its latest economic bulletin published Monday (2 November).
Member states slash EU budget for growth and jobs, innovation
Member states are pushing for cuts to the Commission’s draft budget for 2015, apparently in contradiction with the Union’s main priorities. For the budget heading covering growth and jobs, including youth unemployment, €1.3 billion in payments are cut.
EU’s heavy budget file lands on Brussels summit table
EU heads of state and government will try to reach a final agreement with the European Parliament on the bloc's long-term budget at their summit that starts tomorrow (27 June), after several failed attempts for a compromise, EURACTIV has learned.
Labour market reforms
In the wake of the global financial and economic crises, the EU is developing a new labour market strategy as part of its successor to the 'Lisbon Agenda' for economic, social and environmental reform, which is due to end in 2010. The new roadmap will retain many of the previous ambitions, but will also be shaped by EU leaders' exit strategies.Inflexible working environment causes sickness absence
Gun Johansson, a postgraduate at the Swedish Medical University Karolinska Institute, introduces the illness flexibility model to clarify the causes of sickness absence at work. The model assumes that sickness absence is caused by people’s ability and motivation to work. The study shows that the less adaptable a working place is, the higher the rate of sick leave.French controversial labour law ‘dead and buried’
French Prime minister Dominique de Villepin announced in a public address on the morning of 10 April 2006 the withdrawal of the contrat première embauche (CPE).Court rules against ‘selling holidays’ practice
The minimum annual leave of four weeks paid vacations per year cannot be converted into compensation payments, even when it is carried over into the next year, the European Court of Justice ruled.