Non classé
Paul O’Connell
In the wake of sudden retreats for the political left, most notably within the British Labour Party, Paul O’Connell reflects on the need for political education with activists, members and among the working class at large.
Read more “Political education and socialist renewal”
Non classé
As part of our series looking at national experiences of the coronavirus, Sonja Stojadinovic explains how government inertia and pro-business politics have led to a confused, ineffective and damaging response on the part of state actors in North Macedonia.
Read more “The coronavirus lockdown from a Macedonian perspective”
Non classé
Filip Balunović
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus crisis, reports of abusive and exploitative practices by employers have been widespread. Filip Balunović argues that these problems are particularly acute in peripheral countries such as Serbia, where profit reigns supreme and workers are paying the price of government policy.
Read more “The maltreatment of workers in Serbia during the pandemic”
Non classé
Ognian Kassabov
The EU and its Member States have responded to the coronavirus by relaxing the conditions for the free movement of labour across Europe. This not only jeopardises the health of the workers affected, argues Ognian Kassabov, but contains the risk of increased exploitation and inequality beyond the duration of the crisis.
Read more “Free movement or pandemic exploitation? The EU and beyond”
Non classé
by Duroyan Fertl
The European Union’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has exposed a dangerous lack of solidarity between member states, as longstanding divisions over the future of European integration frustrate the fight against the coronavirus and the downturn it has caused – the worst since the Great Depression. After weeks of bungled responses, old fault lines between “north” and “south” have re-emerged, a marathon Eurogroup meeting on April 7 failing once again reach agreement. The European Union (EU) sits perched uncomfortably on an economic and political precipice, and the consequences could be massive.
Read more “Coronabonds or bust?”
Non classé
by Attila Antal
The recent introduction of the Enabling Act in Hungary has been interpreted by some as a sudden authoritarian turn, designed to meet the unique challenges of the coronavirus outbreak. But, argues Attila Antal, Victor Orbán’s government has merely used the crisis as an opportunity to build on an existing project of neoliberal autocracy, with a view towards the consolidation of power in the post-pandemic world.
Read more “Orbán’s Enabling Act: Ruling the Post-Pandemic World”
Non classé
For over a year Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung (Brussels) and Trademark Belfast have been coordinating this blog to promote intellectual self-criticism and debate on the various challenges facing the European left, from Brexit and the contradictions of the EU project to climate change, the far right and the task of building socialist movements at a national level.
Read more “Call for contributors”
Non classé
by Niall Bakewell
The European Commission has finally launched its plans for a ‘European Green Deal’, including a road map that it says will put the EU on a path for becoming carbon-neutral by 2050. Niall Bakewell reflects on the previous false dawn of a Green New Deal past attempts to implement a Green New Deal in Britain and Northern Ireland, suggesting that their failures may be a harbinger of things to come.
Read more “Killing the Green New Deal”
Non classé
by Andreas Thomsen, Head of the RLS Brussels Office
Brexit is a watershed and warning sign, a historical break and alarm signal. It marks a turning point for the hitherto highly successful and steadily expanding project of the European Union. It is also the first time that a member state has left the Union. But when the United Kingdom leaves the EU on 31 January after 47 years of membership, the future relationship between the British government and the Union will still largely remain to be settled.
Read more “B-Day: Brussels says goodbye!”
Non classé
by Stiofán Ó Nualláin & Seán Byers
The day marking the UK’s official departure from the EU is fast approaching, following December’s Brexit election which handed the Tories an 80-seat majority and with it the votes to comfortably pass Boris Johnson’s Withdrawal Bill. Johnson’s deal has yet to receive the assent of the House of Lords or the European Parliament. Although these decisions were considered a formality, the Lords has just defeated the government by voting for EU citizens to receive physical proof of their right to remain in the UK post-Brexit. Tory MPs are likely to be whipped to overturn the Lords vote in the next week, clearing the way for the UK to meet the new deadline of 31 January and for Johnson to claim that he has delivered on his simple election pledge to ‘Get Brexit done’.
Read more “Brexit day and the year ahead”