The Bologna Process on higher education is an unpopular policy decided at the international level but outside the EU framework, circumventing transparent and democratic legislative processes.

While the EU’s institutions provide for relatively transparent and democratic legislative processes, these processes have been circumvented by the Bologna Process, which aims to make academic standards comparable across Europe, argues Sacha Garben. She also calls upon scholars, politicians, policy makers and the wider public to critically analyse the educational policy developments of the past decade which treat education as “an economic commodity”

Confronting the Competence Conundrum of an EU Directive on Minimum Wages: In Search of a Legal Basis. College of Europe Policy Brief #9.19 December 2019

> The new European Commission has boldly announced its plans to deliver an EU minimum wage legal measure within the first 100 days in office. > This commendable ambition raises the muchcontested question of competence in this field. > Under Article 153 TFEU, the EU’s main social legal basis, the issue of ‘pay’ is excluded from the provisions of this Article (para. 5). This seems to prevent the adoption, on this legal basis, of a binding EU measure that directly fixes the level of minimum wages in the Member States. > Another, and oft-overlooked social legal basis can be found in Article 175 TFEU on economic, social and territorial cohesion. Article 175 TFEU may offer an alternative route to adopt a fully-fledged minimum wage directive to diminish the social and economic disparities that are hampering a harmonious development of the Union in both economic and societal terms. > The main advantage offered by Article 175 TFEU, as compared to the other contending alternative legal basis found in the flexibility clause of Article 352 TFEU, is that it allows the EU to act through the ordinary legislative procedure rather than requiring unanimity while maintaining a social focus. > Furthermore, the objective of cohesion policy seems the most credible alternative, compared to the general harmonisation clause for the internal market under 115 TFEU or the free movement of workers under Article 46 TFEU

Towards a European Pillar of Social Rights: upgrading the EU social acquis. College of Europe Policy Brief #1.17, January 2017

Executive Summary > The European Commission has recently launched a ‘European Pillar of Social Rights’. The Pillar consists of a broad range of social principles. > The European Union’s social acquis, comprised of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, Treaty provisions, legislation and case law, already provides a floor of social rights, protecting workers’ health and safety, equal treatment and job security. > However, several lacunae in, and challenges to, the EU social acquis currently exist, relating to its scope of protection, its effective enforcement and its possible conflict with other EU rights, such as the Charter’s freedom to conduct a business. > As a contribution to the consultation on the Pillar initiative, we have reflected on how these lacunae can be addressed and the EU social acquis strengthened to enhance the ability to live up to citizens’ expectations that the Union indeed aims at the ‘well-being of its people’ (Art.3(1) TEU). > This policy brief contributes to the much-needed broad reflection on ‘social Europe’ through a focused and realistic fourfold proposal for adopting (1) a Directive for the Protection of Dependent Workers, ensuring the application of the existing EU social and labour law measures to all dependent workers (2) a Protection against Precarious Work Directive, (3) a Directive for the Enforcement of Workers Rights and (4) a Declaration safeguarding the integrity of the social acquis as an EU floor for worker protection

The Twin Challenges to Separation of Powers in Central Europe: Technocratic Governance and Populism

Separation of institutions, functions and personnel – Checks and balances – Hungary, Poland, Czechia, Slovakia – Short tradition of separation of powers in Central Europe – Fragile interwar systems of separation of powers – Communist principle of centralisation of power – Technocratic challenge to separation of powers during the EU accession – One-sided checks on the elected branches and empowering technocratic elitist institutions – Populist challenge to separation of powers in the 2010s – Re-politicising of the public sphere, removing most checks on the elected branches, and curtailing and packing the unelected institutions – Technocratic and populist challenges to separation of powers interrelated more than we thought

Challenges in physician supply planning: the case of Belgium

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Planning human resources for health (HRH) is a complex process for policy-makers and, as a result, many countries worldwide swing from surplus to shortage. In-depth case studies can help appraising the challenges encountered and the solutions implemented. This paper has two objectives: to identify the key challenges in HRH planning in Belgium and to formulate recommendations for an effective HRH planning, on the basis of the Belgian case study and lessons drawn from an international benchmarking.</p> <p>Case description</p> <p>In Belgium, a numerus clausus set up in 1997 and effective in 2004, aims to limit the total number of physicians working in the curative sector. The assumption of a positive relationship between physician densities and health care utilization was a major argument in favor of medical supply restrictions. This new regulation did not improve recurrent challenges such as specialty imbalances, with uncovered needs particularly among general practitioners, and geographical maldistribution. New difficulties also emerged. In particular, limiting national training of HRH turned out to be ineffective within the open European workforce market. The lack of integration of policies affecting HRH was noteworthy. We described in the paper what strategies were developed to address those challenges in Belgium and in neighboring countries.</p> <p>Discussion and evaluation</p> <p>Planning the medical workforce involves determining the numbers, mix, and distribution of health providers that will be required at some identified future point in time. To succeed in their task, health policy planners have to take a broader perspective on the healthcare system. Focusing on numbers is too restrictive and adopting innovative policies learned from benchmarking without integration and coordination is unfruitful. Evolving towards a strategic planning is essential to control the effects of the complex factors impacting on human resources. This evolution requires an effective monitoring of all key factors affecting supply and demand, a dynamic approach, and a system-level perspective, considering all healthcare professionals, and integrating manpower planning with workforce development.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>To engage in an evidence-based action, policy-makers need a global manpower picture, from their own country and abroad, as well as reliable and comparable manpower databases allowing proper analysis and planning of the workforce.</p