‘Flexicurity’ has become one of the more fashionable elements of the European political discourse addressing social and economic policies in general and employment and labour market policies in particular. The European Commission is strongly pushing for flexicurity as the answer to Europe’s... Find out more

European integration has since the mid-fifties been principally economic in nature. Market creating policy is now very much conducted at supranational level. Failure to sufficiently address social policy considerations at the same level has historically resulted in the growth of market-correcting... Find out more

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With the Lisbon strategy of 2000, Europe set itself ambitious economic and political goals. Within the framework of a ten-year strategy, the European Council wants to make the EU into the most dynamic and competitive economic area in the world. High social standards underpinned by the European... Find out more

Collective action is, still today, very much linked to the highly specific national industrial relations systems which means that trade unions in Europe have to act within the national “legislative” boundaries, while seeking to coordinate national actions on a trans-national scale in such a way that... Find out more

This report served as background paper for the UNI-Europa Conference in Athens on 23-25 April 2007.The service sector is the biggest employer in the EU and is also the main source of new jobs in European economies. Furthermore employment in the service sector will continue to grow as a share of... Find out more

This text was originally published in spring 2007 as an article in volume 95 of the “Edition de Hans Boeckler Stiftung” series. The volume was entitled Social Embedding and the integration of markets: an opportunity for transnational trade union action or an impossible task?. Find out more