Gemma Bird

Dr Gemma Bird is a senior lecturer in politics and international relations at the University of Liverpool, currently focused on the situation facing displaced people in Greece.

Voices from the borders of Europe

by Gemma Bird on 14th July 2021

It’s a lot easier to ignore the plight of the refugees at Europe’s borders if one doesn’t hear their stories.

WSI policy brief: the formula for a social Europe

The strengthening of the social dimension of the EU is back on the agenda of European politics. The European Pillar of Social Rights, the revision of the Posted Workers Directive and the initiative for a European minimum wage are interpreted by some as a turning point. However, the road to a more social Europe is still very long. Against that background, this paper formulates a social Europe thus: social minimum standards plus a reconfiguration of the internal market and economic and monetary union in a manner compatible with the pillars of the European social model.

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Inequality: new dimensions to an old problem

Despite enjoying the status of the most equal region in the world, Europe remains, overall, a land of rising inequalities, with new dimensions and forms of inequality constantly emerging and Covid-19 as a most recent catalyst for many. While it is not at all obvious how these growing societal rifts will be addressed, let alone remedied, in the post-pandemic world, it is clear they should be dealt with as a matter of urgency since the longer we take to reverse inequality the harder it will be to reconstruct sustainable and resilient European economies and societies.

This issue of Benchmarking Working Europe takes stock of the various inequalities in Europe, emphasising how the pandemic has generated new dimensions of inequality and aggravated existing ones, as well as pointing out how inequalities are an obstruction to resilience and sustainability and actively hinder a post-pandemic vision for a prosperous and equitable Europe. It also seeks to identify a range of policy actions that could assist with tackling inequalities.

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Living, working and Covid-19 (update April 2021): mental health and trust decline across EU as pandemic enters another year

The third round of Eurofound's Living, working and Covid-19 e-survey, fielded in February and March 2021, sheds light on the social and economic situation of people across Europe following nearly a full year of living with restrictions. The report analyses the main findings and tracks developments and trends across the 27 EU member states since the survey was first launched in April 2020. It pinpoints issues that have surfaced over the course of the pandemic, such as increased job insecurity due to the threat of job loss, decline in mental wellbeing, erosion of recent gains in gender equality, fall in trust vis-à-vis institutions, deterioration of work–life balance and growth of vaccine hesitancy. The results of the survey highlight the need for a holistic approach to support all the groups hit hard by the crisis, to prevent them from falling further behind.

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Discover the new issue of the Progressive Post!

Social rights for platform workers, fiscal-rules reform and EU enlargement, as well as the challenges and opportunities for social democrats in the post-pandemic context, are the main topics of the latest Progressive Post magazine.

After more than a year of the pandemic, we are in a crucial political moment: policy decisions made now will drive reforms and sustainable growth in the years to come. For progressives to take ownership of these topics, this issue of the Progressive Post analyses some of these opportunities.

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Voices from the borders of Europe

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