The European Trade Union Institute

This report examines how and why the Semester became part of the governance of the RRF. We also ask to what extent this new set-up has changed the power balance among key EU actors (for example, financial and economic actors versus institutional social affairs actors)?

The Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), which makes up the bulk of the ‘Next Generation EU’ plan, with 672.5 billion euros (€) in loans and grants (out of a total of €750 billion), has given new momentum to policy and political coordination in the EU. As embedded in the European Semester, however, it requires that the latter goes beyond its role of fiscal surveillance.

Weather-related heat exposure has become a sanitary concern given the wide repercussions it has for health. Both physiological and epidemiological research show that the impact of heat on human health goes far beyond acute heat conditions such as potentially fatal heat strokes. Heat exacerbates the problems associated with a wide variety of cardiovascular, respiratory and other acute illnesses and reproductive health. During heatwaves there is an increase in injury-related mortality in comparison with that experienced in communities’ usual climates; a part of this is occupationally-related.

More and more nation states are now committing to net-zero carbon by 2050 at the latest, which is encouraging, but none have faced up to the  transformation of economies, societies and lives that this will entail. This paper considers two scenarios for sustainable welfare and discusses the implications for contemporary incomes, jobs and welfare states. It is necessarily restricted to the EU and similarly rich countries of the developed world. 

Global leaders are gathering in Glasgow for the Cop26 climate summit. Will their individual pledges to reduce emissions carry enough weight to avert the growing threat of catastrophic global heating? What effects will such decisions have on the world of work?

The aim of this research paper is to review the recent emergence on the European scene of the concept of open strategic autonomy and the consequences it may have for EU action.

The new ETUI strategy for the next 4 years was built on the basis of an inclusive methodology where each internal and external stakeholder has taken an active role in the building process. The strategy has followed different paths of consultation and feedback to finish with an ETUI internal approval and ETUC endorsement in November 2019. The strategy was presented to the Trade Unions Education community at the EduDays held in Vienna from 28 to 29 November 2019.

This database of joint social dialogue documents is a useful tool that makes it possible to analyse the sectoral social partners’ ‘output’. It enables comparisons to be drawn between sectors, their levels of activity, the topics addressed, and even the approach to social dialogue developed by the social partners.

The ETUI Education department offers a wide range of high-quality training on key competencies and skills to European Trade Union members. The end goal? Strengthening and expanding the labour movement.

This paper analyses the job retention schemes (JRS) implemented in response to the Covid-19 crisis, showing quantitative trends and differences in terms of expenditure on the schemes and the number of workers involved.

The key focus is on a qualitative analysis of the schemes’ key properties. In order to understand the diversity of job retention schemes implemented in the Covid-19 crisis, we first develop a typology, distinguishing between three underlying types: short-time work (STW) schemes, furlough schemes, and wage subsidies.