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László Andor

László Andor is secretary general of the Foundation for European Progressive Studies and a former member of the European Commission.

László Andor

László Andor is secretary general of the Foundation for European Progressive Studies and a former member of the European Commission.

Rebutting the assaults on gender equality

László Andor and Laeticia Thissen 8th March 2022

Tackling gender-based violence, on which an EU directive proposal is expected today, is key to restoring momentum to the feminist cause.

Dedramatising debt

László Andor 28th July 2021

Post-pandemic recovery and the green transition—and Europe’s competitiveness—depend on investment financed by joint borrowing.

Social democrats and their allies—where now after the elections?

László Andor 3rd July 2019

Close scrutiny of the European Parliament and recent national elections belies a simple story of long-run decline for social democrats. A progressive programme is key to revival.

Social resistance in Hungary

László Andor 28th January 2019

The regime of Viktor Orbán in Hungary had looked impregnable. But protests against the ‘slave-labour law’ encapsulated growing social alienation, with a wider European resonance. Hungarian politics entered a new stage in December 2018, rather unexpectedly. Following the April general elections, which produced the third consecutive constitutional majority for Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz party, […]

Hungary And The Purgatory of Socialists

László Andor 16th April 2018

The Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) was the strongest party in four elections since multiparty democracy was introduced in 1990. Since 2010, it has suffered three consecutive defeats and a recovery is neither imminent nor automatic. Results: from bad to worse MSZP lost badly in 2010 because of the impact of the 2008-9 global financial crisis, […]

Austerity: From Outrage To Progressive Alternatives

László Andor 22nd January 2018 1 Comment

Social democracy in Europe is not in good shape. Perhaps the main reason for social democratic parties losing support has been their perceived association with austerity policies. Where, however, the centre-left has more categorically rejected austerity, as in the case of Antonio Costa’s Socialist Party in Portugal and Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour, its popularity has remained […]

Hungarian Social Democrats Take Fight To Orban

László Andor 11th October 2017

So, László, thank you very much for being with us to talk about the Hungarian Socialist Party. What is the historical position of the Social Democratic Party in Hungary’s political system and where does it stand now? To analyse the Hungarian situation we need to go back to 1989, because that’s when the Hungarian Socialist […]

The Velvet Brexit

László Andor 10th November 2016

Perhaps the biggest commonplace in Brussels is that the EU always develops through crisis. It is repeated so often and without any proper explanation of why the various crises are occurring that listeners become complacent rather than alarmed. And Brexit is happening at a time of multiple crises. While immigration/asylum is probably rightly seen as […]

Transition To Transfers: Options For EMU Level Unemployment Insurance

László Andor 29th August 2016

In his new book on the euro, Joseph Stiglitz mentions unemployment insurance as part of a reform program that could make monetary union sustainable and palatable in Europe. The idea is not entirely new, and recent years have seen a good deal of studies and conferences exploring its costs and benefits. In documents like the […]

Streets, Avenues And Highways To Strengthen Social Europe

László Andor 8th July 2014

The EU is slowly recovering from a long period of financial instability and economic sacrifice that has pushed up unemployment to record-high levels and also resulted in a dramatic rise of poverty in the more ‘peripheral’ EU countries and regions. Exiting the social crisis and making the European social model more resilient will remain a […]

Where Now After Ten Years Of Eastern Enlargement?

László Andor 13th May 2014 1 Comment

The ‘Eastern enlargement’ in May 2004 opened the EU’s doors to ten countries. Of these, the four Visegrád states, the three Baltic countries and a former Yugoslav state had at that time completed their 15-year transition towards a market economy. In the first half of the 1990s these countries’ income, measured in terms of GDP, […]

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Living and working in Europe 2021

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EU Care Atlas: a new interactive data map showing how care deficits affect the gender earnings gap in the EU

Browse through the EU Care Atlas, a new interactive data map to help uncover what the statistics are often hiding: how care deficits directly feed into the gender earnings gap.

While attention is often focused on the gender pay gap (13%), the EU Care Atlas brings to light the more worrisome and complex picture of women’s economic inequalities. The pay gap is just one of three main elements that explain the overall earnings gap, which is estimated at 36.7%. The EU Care Atlas illustrates the urgent need to look beyond the pay gap and understand the interplay between the overall earnings gap and care imbalances.


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Towards a new Minimum Wage Policy in Germany and Europe: WSI minimum wage report 2022

The past year has seen a much higher political profile for the issue of minimum wages, not only in Germany, which has seen fresh initiatives to tackle low pay, but also in those many other countries in Europe that have embarked on substantial and sustained increases in statutory minimum wages. One key benchmark in determining what should count as an adequate minimum wage is the threshold of 60 per cent of the median wage, a ratio that has also played a role in the European Commission's proposals for an EU-level policy on minimum wages. This year's WSI Minimum Wage Report highlights the feasibility of achieving minimum wages that meet this criterion, given the political will. And with an increase to 12 euro per hour planned for autumn 2022, Germany might now find itself promoted from laggard to minimum-wage trailblazer.


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Bilan social / Social policy in the EU: state of play 2021 and perspectives

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