About Patrick ten Brink

Patrick ten Brink is deputy secretary general and director of the EU policy unit of the European Environmental Bureau.

Patrick ten Brink

Pollution: no acceptable levels

by Patrick ten Brink, Margherita Tolotto and Sergiy Moroz on 15th June 2021

‘Zero pollution’ is a very good goal for the European Union to adopt—but only if zero means zero.

Leaving behind the EU’s deadly addiction to deregulation

by Patrick ten Brink on 3rd March 2021

Better regulation is benevolent and participatory, cognisant of complexity and future-oriented. Deregulation it is not.

Returning our food systems to business as usual would be a historic mistake

by Patrick ten Brink on 23rd April 2020

Amid the coronavirus crisis, some are calling for a deferral of European ecological action. Yet unsustainable food systems are one source of new human diseases.

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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FEPS book: Our European Future

The book Our European Future: Charting a Progressive Course in the World by the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) is the first high-quality book for the next phase of the European project to be discussed in the Conference on the Future of Europe, authored by 36 top experts and intellectuals and edited by the FEPS president, Maria Joâo Rodrigues.

As the Conference on the Future of Europe is about to start—with its first plenary debate this month—it is high time to bring in a real debate about ideas. This book offers solutions to rethink our socio-economic model in the glare of the environmental and digital transformations; to redefine Europe’s role in the world to contribute to renewed multilateralism; to strengthen investment in public goods; and, finally, to reinvent our democratic contract.

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With a pandemic raging, for those countries most affected by Brexit the end of the transition could not come at a worse time. Yet, might the UK's withdrawal be a blessing in disguise? With its biggest veto player gone, might the European Pillar of Social Rights take centre stage? This book brings together leading experts in European politics and policy to examine social citizenship rights across the European continent in the wake of Brexit. Will member states see an enhanced social Europe or a race to the bottom?

'This book correctly emphasises the need to place the future of social rights in Europe front and centre in the post-Brexit debate, to move on from the economistic bias that has obscured our vision of a progressive social Europe.' Michael D Higgins, president of Ireland

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WSI minimum wage report 2021: is Europe en route to adequate minimum wages?

In late 2020, the European Commission took an important step towards securing adequate minimum wages for all workers in Europe with the publication of a draft directive aimed at reversing the growing polarisation of incomes and the growth of in-work poverty. Securing an income sufficient for a decent standard of living will require substantial increases in minimum wages in virtually all member states—a medium-term objective that, according to the commission's calculations, would deliver clear social benefits. More than 25 million workers in Europe would benefit directly were statutory minimum wages to rise to either 60% of the median wage or 50% of the average wage. In Germany alone, where 60% of the median wage would equate to a minimum wage of €12.00, some 6.8 million workers would see increases in their pay.

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ETUI policy brief: teleworking in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic

It is essential companies and policy-makers understand the challenges associated with this modern way of organising work to avoid negative outcomes, especially in terms of occupational health and safety. Implementation of a teleworking system requires that employers take a number of precautions. According to the latest researches from the European Trade Union Institute, successful implementation of telework requires four categories of factors be aligned: individual differences in workers’ ability and desire to adapt; type of job; factors related to the particular household, such as availability of physical space and absence of distractions; and, critically, the employing organisation, in terms of a supportive culture, appropriate systems and a trust-based work environment.

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Pollution: no acceptable levels

Leaving behind the EU’s deadly addiction to deregulation

Returning our food systems to business as usual would be a historic mistake

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