This policy brief demonstrates how the emphasis on the primacy of economic freedoms has negatively affected the application of EU social security rules and the working conditions of posted workers. It also discusses the legal ambiguities accompanying the notion of 'genuine undertakings' and some... Find out more

This Policy Brief looks at changes in work organisation, the ways in which these lead to an individualisation of the work relationship and the negative consequences arising from the contradictions between how workers see their job and how management perceives it. The brief also presents some... Find out more

This policy brief demonstrates how the EU's financial and economic crisis has been used to attack European collective labour law. Amendments to the Lisbon Treaty, changes in the EU's economic governance and austerity measures have led to drastic national labour law reforms which undermine... Find out more

This policy brief presents lessons from comparative research on collective bargaining on flexibility and security. It takes as its starting point field work undertaken in two EU- and two US-based manufacturing subsidiaries in Germany, Belgium, Italy and the United Kingdom.The research shows that the... Find out more

This policy brief examines the impact of recent immigration on employment conditions in two sectors, namely, construction and hospitality, in Ireland.The paper shows that immigration made it easier for employers to pursue social dumping practices, thereby contributing to the informalisation and... Find out more

The assumed benefits of diversification – reducing the reliance of individuals on one form of retirement insurance – currently inform policy advice on pension reforms. The diversification argument also often justifies reforms of old age pensions, including their privatization. However, the merits of... Find out more

In recent decades the European Union (EU) has put increased emphasis on education and training as a strategic area able to contribute to economic development and a more inclusive society. Soft governance has contributed to progress in attempts to coordinate national policies and institutions... Find out more

The three authors of this policy brief investigated whether multinational enterprises (MNEs) offer better terms and conditions for employment than domestic (non-MNE) firms. Using data from the WageIndicator web survey (www.wageindicator.org), the researchers compared wages, working conditions and... Find out more

Eleven Eurozone countries recently decided to press ahead with the introduction of a system of taxing financial transactions (sometimes called a “Tobin Tax” after James Tobin, the Nobel-prize winning U.S. economist who first launched the idea).In this Policy brief, ETUI senior researcher Andreas... Find out more

Latvia is used by the ‘austerians’ as a case showing that hard and painful austerity can get an economy out of recession. This policy brief argues the opposite and shows that what actually happened in Latvia is that policymakers decided not to continue but to break with the policy of austerity. This... Find out more