In the midst of the harshest crisis experienced by the UK steel industry in over a decade, last week brought some comforting news about securing the future of the sector. Potentially this week could see further good news if the UK government chooses to lift its opposition to the reform of EU measures to tackle…
Yesterday, Brussels was full of rumours that the European Commission had finally found a way to respond to the massive backlash generated by its proposal for a special court for US investors: a simple rebranding should do the trick. Currently known as Investor-State Dispute Settlement, or ISDS, this mechanism establishes special rights for foreign investors…
The Swazi people experience some of the most horrid living conditions on the planet. Under King Mswati II’s absolute rule, very low living standards have become even lower, very high AIDS/HIV prevalence has become even higher. Poverty is widespread, and the rule of law a distant ideal. We simply cannot ignore what is happening in…
Europe’s “fresh start” under the Juncker Presidency has already run into opposition from MEPs. A draft document leaked to the press last week shows that key EU environmental proposals on clean air, waste and recycling (the so-called ‘circular economy’), and stronger protection for pregnant workers had been ‘discontinued’. This week the European Commission publicly adopted…
Zero hour contracts have hit the headlines in the UK, and rightly so there are 1.4 million British workers on these contracts. But they are not just an issue here, they’re increasingly an problem across the whole of Europe too. With unemployment rates perilously high across the European Union, should we be trying to create…
ETUC Confederal Secretary Judith Kirton-Darling spoke at a GMB-Unison-Unite conference on European issues today (Thursday). Here is an edited version of what she said. This is a defining period for the trade union movement across Europe. Despite the dramatic collapse in autumn 2008 following the fall of Lehmann Brothers, neo-liberalism re-asserted itself with a vengeance bringing…
National and European concerns about the potential for economic depression in Europe are dominating choices on long-term policymaking. The current official narrative of severe austerity measures is thwarting the ambition and action we need to combat climate change whilst promoting social justice. The market alone will not deliver radically lower climate-damaging emissions, nor will leaving…