The new impetus for Social Europe of the past five years has led to important and long-awaited policy initiatives, including on minimum wages, platform work and corporate due diligence. However, progress in this field remains both fragile and fragmented. The key question now is whether this social paradigm shift can be upheld in the face of the high risk of an austerity reload and in a context of continued “polycrises”.
Putting more than 10 years of paralysis behind it, the European Commission finally launched a revision of the directive on the prevention of occupational cancers in May 2016. Lawmakers can now address reprotoxic substances in the workplace, writes Laurent Vogel.
The gradual transfer of competences to the EU has left member states unable to improve working conditions and drag their economies out of stagnation. It is time for serious change, writes Sotiria Theodoropoulou.
The publication of Prosperity Without Growth in 2009 was a landmark in the sustainability debate. Tim Jackson’s piercing challenge to conventional economics openly questioned the most highly-prized goal of politicians and economists alike.
