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This study, commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the AFCO Committee, assesses the status of political strikes in the EU. While workers' strikes generally seek to pressure an employer, "political strikes" are aimed at the government. Even though such political strikes are often organised to defend and protect workers' interests, they can also have exclusively political objectives. Such "purely political" strikes ...
Strengthening the right to participate: legitimacy and resilience of electoral processes in illiberal political systems and authoritarian regimes
In 2022, the Human Rights Subcommittee decided to prepare a Recommendation to the Council, the Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on how to respond to undemocratic elections by strengthening the human right to participate in public affairs. On 25 January 2023, a Workshop was organised on behalf of the Human Rights Subcommittee to discuss the challenge of elections in authoritarian countries from a human rights perspective. It focused on authoritarian ...
Employment in privatised utilities: A higher risk of precariousness?
This paper explores the risk of precarious work in privatised utilities, based on data analysis and literature review. It examines the history of privatisation of utilities in the EU including programme countries and the impact that this has had on levels of employment. Moreover, it presents a range of measures to cushion adverse effects. This document was prepared by Policy Department A at the request of the Employment and Social Affairs Committee.
Georgia: European engagement in an unstable environment
Georgia is one of the European Union's advanced partners in the Eastern Partnership region. Following the Rose Revolution of 2003, the Georgian government implemented radical reforms to promote democratisation, step up the fight against corruption and liberalise the economy. However, the government's top-down approach, the 2008 war with Russia and the global economic crisis of 2009 propelled the opposition coalition, Georgian Dream, to electoral victory in 2012 and once again in 2016. The fact that ...
The minimum wage: A motor for growth or a brake on the economy?
Setting minimum wages are a direct way for governments to influence wage levels. Even though they are one of the most analysed and debated topics in economics, their impact on (un-)employment, growth and poverty remains ambiguous. For some experts, the rise of minimum wages will lead to job losses, as it increases the cost of labour. Others argue that minimum wages not only prevent the creation of a 'working poor' class, but create jobs by increasing employee purchasing power. The empirical evidence ...
The ECB and the financial crisis: Rigid theory vs a pragmatic approach
The European Central Bank's (ECB) main objective is stable inflation in the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). During the financial crisis, the ECB decided to face the economic slump by, amongst other actions, increasing and then decreasing interest rates and the money supply. In addition, it launched a quantitative easing (QE) programme which aims to stabilise some Member State economies. The ECB's monetary decisions evoked mixed reactions in the euro area and triggered a debate on the relevance ...
Implementation of the ENPI : analysis of the EU's assistance to Russia
Scope of the briefing: The Briefing Paper analyses the EU's assistance to Russia through the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI) and other external aid instruments in the light of: • key documents, including Road Maps for the Four Common Spaces, the ENPI National Indicative Programme 2007-2010, ENPI Cross-Border Cooperation Strategy Paper 2007-2013, CBC Indicative Programme 2007-2010, the EU-Russia Common Spaces Progress Report 2007, and the Annual Action Programme for ...
Impact of Privatisation of the Public Sector on Developing Countries
The results of privatisation in developing countries have proven very disappointing. Many obstacles which have appeared are related both to the characteristics of the economic, social and institutional environment and to the practical conditions of their implementation. The analysis based on case studies of privatisation of agricultural sectors and services makes it possible to present a nuanced evaluation, to highlight several recurrent characteristics of ongoing reforms and to propose a series ...