Audiovisual media in the digital era: An industrial strategy needed to safeguard cultural diversity. EPC Policy Brief, 6 July 2018

Today, Europeans can watch their favourite programmes on their television, their computers or their mobile devices. They can broadcast live videos, create and share content on online platforms or their own channels. In this context, significant technological and behavioural transformations have transformed Europe’s audiovisual industry

The French presidential election: an (E)U-turn in the making? EPC Commentary, 4 May 2017

In most European capitals, France’s decision to put Emmanuel Macron ahead in the first round of the presidential election was taken as a reassurance that France would continue to contribute to the European integration process. But the first round also featured a historical rejection of the country’s two mainstream parties. What does this result tell us about the future of populism in France? How is this likely to influence the country’s priorities on the EU agenda and the position of its partners? Macron’s victory would certainly represent a revolution for France’s role within the Union, but the lingering possibility of a French (E)U-turn could well be the real game changer coming out of this election

Balancing Openness and Protection: How can the EU budget help? EPC Commentary, 14 March 2018

In May 2018, the European Commission is expected to publish its proposal on the EU’s post-2020 funding strategy, a seven-year budget known as the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). This proposal comes at a time when, despite strong signs of economic recovery, European citizens’ attitudes towards the EU’s global trade and investment agenda remain mixed. In this commentary, the authors argue that the EU and its member states should use the context of the MFF review to better address European citizens’ concerns about the downsides of globalisation

Rethinking the EU’s investment strategy: EFSI 2.0 needs a Social Pillar to address economic insecurity. EPC Commentary 15 November 2016

In his 2016 State of the Union statement, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker announced that the European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI), launched one year ago, would be extended until 2020, with the aim of mobilising €500 billion in investment. EFSI was portrayed as a major success that fostered the investment it targeted, but also practically demonstrated the positive effects of a “more political” Commission

Can the EU structural funds reconcile growth, solidarity and stability objectives? A study on the role of conditionalities in spurring structural reforms and reducing macroeconomic imbalances. EPC Issue Paper No. 83, October 2017

The European Union (EU) is facing all-encompassing challenges that have the potential to undermine the future development of the EU project. They include migration, security, rising Euroscepticism or the fight against climate change. Each of them carry both significant financial and political implications. To address these challenges, a growing number of voices call for a realignment of budget priorities at the European level. Ahead of the upcoming negotiations on the post-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), some are calling for a reduction of the share of Cohesion Policy and other ‘traditional’ policies (such as the Common Agricultural Policy) in the EU’s funding strategy. Furthermore, 27 member states need to prepare for the implications of Brexit on the EU budget in a context of heightened pressure for fiscal consolidation.

Towards a re-insurance union? : SURE as an EU response to preserve jobs in the COVID-19 pandemic

Published online: 04 April 2024Is the EU evolving towards a Re-Insurance Union? The creation of SURE, an EU financial tool to support national short-time work (STW) schemes in the midst of the pandemic, has revitalized debates on fiscal stabilizers as a means to counter economic downturns and protect jobs within the European Union. Drawing from document analyses and 17 interviews with EU and national stakeholders, this study explores the politics underpinning SURE’s adoption following a decade of heated and unsuccessful debates on the European Unemployment Reinsurance Scheme (EURS). Through the lens of ‘purposeful opportunism’, the article illustrates how the European Commission leveraged prior EURS insights and the emerging consensus on STW schemes to craft SURE in a way which addressed national concerns about EU-wide welfare harmonization, while positioning the EU as a holding environment for national welfare states. Looking ahead, making SURE a permanent ‘second line of defence’ against macroeconomic shocks could contribute to further substantiating new, EU-wide, social rights codified in the European Pillar of Social Rights.This work was supported by the European Research Council (ERC) grant entitled ‘Wellbeing Returns on Social Investment Recalibration’ (WellSIre), grant agreement No. 882276. It also benefited from an EUI Research Council Grant

Welfare resilience in Europe. Contours of a post-Covid social compass for the EU

The Covid-19 existential crisis has brought social protection and the welfare state back into the limelight. Whereas in good times welfare support mostly operates in the background, in hard times it comes to the surface. • Like the Great Recession, the pandemic also exposed fault lines. Fragmented welfare states with a poor safety nets and largely privatized health care were not up to the task. Ongoing failures to adapt welfare regimes to the new realities of demographic ageing and the knowledge economy also involve major costs. • Decisive, swift, and generous EU COVID-19 crisis management surely built on the lessons learned from the policy mistake of the austerity reflex that prevailed over the long decade of the Great Recession. • National recovery and resilience plans show a growing attention to social investment policies aiming to bolster labour supply and improve the quality of human capital, while easing work-life balance reconciliation. Now, the focus should turn to ensuring that reforms address the persistent scars of the crisis for vulnerable groups, capacitating individuals, households, and communities to better confront the challenges of digitalization and climate change. • As part and parcel of the post-COVID social compass, EU member states should exempt social investment expenditures on human capital ‘stock’ from renegotiated debt and deficit rules. This would foster immediate gains, notably in early childhood education and care and female employment, and therefore enhance long-term fiscal and social returns in countries that need a social investment impetus the most

EU employment policy and social citizenship (2009–2022) : an inclusive turn after the Social Pillar?

Published online: 24 April 2023When does the EU employment growth agenda also serve social progress? Scholars concerned with the equality/efficiency trade-off generally look at the EU as an agenda-setter. Little attention has yet been paid to its role as direct provider of social rights. Building on a data set of 71 EU measures and 317 judgments of the Court of Justice of the EU, this article evaluates the extent to which EU employment policies helped to advance social citizenship by assessing the scope and distribution of individual entitlements over time (2009–2022). Our findings show that, after almost two decades of silence, the EU not only expanded the scope of its influence over individual social rights but also took an inclusive turn, driven by more ‘universalising’ and ‘capacitating’ initiatives. Looking ahead, better monitoring of the distributive profile of EU initiatives indirectly affecting rights production (such as SURE or the Recovery and Resilience Facility) would help to ensure that this shift increasingly benefits those needing it the most.This work was written in the context of the Horizon 2020 funded project EUSOCIALCIT [grant agreement no. 870978] and ERC funded project WellSIRe [grant agreement no. 882276]

The Janus’ face of Europe’s new social rulebook

Published on 05 May 2021In the midst of a third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic affecting the European continent, the European Commission released the Social Pillar Action Plan, setting concrete targets on employment, skills, and poverty reduction to be reached by 2030. This new ‘social rulebook’ represents a welcome initiative from the EU to set itself long-term development goals. Yet setting new ambitions without the necessary means may risk backfiring. This column argues that to act as a game-changer, the Action Plan should place a greater emphasis on tapping Europe’s job growth potential where it lies, moving beyond a supply-side approach on employment promotion, and committing to greater ambitions in poverty reduction