Economic policy, crisis and alternatives

Economic policies within the EU are set in a complex, multi-level political-institutional framework with shared competence between the Member States and European-level bodies. True also in more ‘normal’ times, the financial and economic crisis has brought home these facts. In addition the crisis has also raised key questions regarding economic governance in Europe. Trade unions are concerned both in term of the impact of economic developments and policies on their members’ interests and also institutionally, as actors in policymaking at both national and European levels. The ETUI monitors both economic trends and economic policies, taking both a comparative (national) perspective and an integrated, European view. A focus of the research is the evolving economic governance institutions in Europe.

Hielke Van Doorslaer, Mattias Vermeiren

Beyond normal central banking? Monetary policy after the pandemic

In recent years the world’s two largest inflation-targeting central banks – the US Federal Reserve (the Fed) and the European Central Bank (ECB) – have revised their monetary policy frameworks in a more progressive direction. Whereas the Fed decided to abandon its strategy of pre-emptive tightening whenever unemployment ran too low (implicitly... Find out more

Mehtap Akgüç, Nicola Countouris, Bob Hancké, ...

Rethinking the European single market

This report was commissioned by the Belgian Federal Ministry of the Economy (FPS Economy) from the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) in 2022, following a competitive tendering procedure. Its main purpose is to support the Belgian authorities in their preparations for the upcoming Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) in... Find out more

Dagmara Nikulin, Aleksandra Parteka, Joanna Wolszczak-Derlacz

Working conditions in Europe

This paper’s analysis of working conditions in Europe compares several aspects of job quality and wages, rather than relying on earnings as a sole indicator of workers’ well-being. We use a micro-level database of workers from 22 European countries to assess how global value chains (GVCs) and advanced digital production (ADP) technologies affect... Find out more

Sotiria Theodoropoulou, Mehtap Akgüç, Jakob Wall

Balancing objectives? Just transition in national recovery and resilience plans

This paper assesses how well national recovery and resilience plans (NRRPs) aim at jointly tackling the social and climate/environmental challenges of recovery from the crisis and the transition to a net zero carbon socioeconomic model. Drawing on the conceptual frameworks proposed by Mandelli (forthcoming) and by Sabato et al. (2021) on how... Find out more

Martin Myant

Labour rights in trade agreements: five new stories

Labour provisions in trade agreements have been criticised for minimal effectiveness in improving employment conditions. Five recent cases point to some benefits and to the lessons on when and how labour provisions can be effective. They make a difference in particular economic and political circumstances and when they are a support to an active... Find out more

August 30, 2021

How fit is Next Generation EU in addressing the challenges ahead?

Now that the summer is coming to an end and most of us are back at work, we hope to return to a typical working year – one in which the virus is under control, and we can welcome you again to our... Find out more