Promoting labour rights and social protection in post-crisis Europe

This paper identifies and develops four new areas which policymakers may seek to exploit. Firstly, we assess the potential for strengthening labour markets through a renewed focus on international solidarity – including deepening cross border cooperation with labour organisations and learning from best practice both in and outside of Europe. Secondly, we consider the options for strengthening the position of migrant labourers within the EU – a policy which serves to not only build solidarity within Europe, but also begin to mitigate the race to the bottom which characterises man sectors of European Labour markets.

We also consider the possibility of developing Europe’s industrial strategy such that it becomes capable of coordinating the development of capacity and innovation – and in so doing, securing the kind of work that (particularly young) European workers often seek. And in the same vein, we conclude by arguing that the European left must look much more closely at developing a basic income style proposal of its own. Such a policy, we argue, offers the prospect of the most radical and effective rebalancing of Europe’s labour market. We argue that much of the leftist scepticism over a basic income is misplaced, and that suitably defined – the policy represents an invaluable pro-socialist and pro-labour option for the future.