Suchergebnisse

The systems of direct taxes and cash benefits in the 27 Member States of the European Union (EU) vary considerably in size and structure. We explore their redistributive effects using EUROMOD, the tax-benefit microsimulation model for the EU. As well as describing redistributive effects in aggregate this allows us to assess and compare the effectiveness of individual types of policy in reducing income disparities. We consider the following categories of benefits and taxes: income taxes, tax allowances, tax credits, social contributions, cash benefits designed to target the poor or redistribute inter-personally (through means-testing) as well as cash benefits intended to redistribute intra-personally across the lifecycle (through social insurance or contingency-based entitlement). We derive results for the 27 members of the European Union using policies in effect in 2010 and present them for each country separately as well as for the EU as a whole.

Europe and the European Union -- Back to the future -- Belonging without believing -- Leading from behind : opt-outs, opt-ins and red lines -- Party games and politics -- Devolution and European Union membership -- The press and the European Union -- The pound, the euro and the City -- Britain, the European Union and the wider world -- 'Banging on about Europe' : the Conservatives and the European Union 2010-2015 -- Hallmarks of British membership of the EU -- The Referendum of 2016 : the campaign -- The Referendum of 2016 : the result -- The May government and Brexit 2016-2019 : decline and fail -- The Brexiter government, 2019-2020.

People have the right to manifest their religion or belief. They also have the right not to be discriminated against because of their religion or belief. In addition, most people need employment to provide in their livelihood. It was already known that freedom of religion can be restricted in the employment in the public sector. The public sector (i.e. the government) needs to be able to project neutrality also through its employees. However, the Court of Justice of the European Union expanded this possibility of rights restriction to the private sector. This decision has the potential to harm the chances of obtaining employment of certain minorities in Europe.

This article introduces the European Union Policy -- Making (EUPOL) dataset. The dataset contains the complete records of the European Commission's PreLex database, which tracks the interactions between the European institutions on legislative proposals and non-legislative policy documents over time. To be of maximum use to the research community, the dataset is both comprehensive and replicable. It relies on 2600 variables to describe the detailed event histories of more than 29,000 inter-institutional decision-making processes between 1975 and 2009. The data collection has been completely automated, enabling scholars to scrutinize and replicate the generation of the dataset. To illustrate the dataset's general utility and discuss specific pitfalls, I present a descriptive analysis of the outcome and duration of Council decision-making. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Ltd., copyright holder.]

It is not easy to gauge the extent to which the European Employment Strategy (EES) has influenced the EU labour market over the last five years but it has surely contributed to the creation of more than 10 million new jobs and 4 million fewer unemployed. However, is this common strategy the right answer for the labour markets of the future member states? This article examines how the candidate countries are adapting to the EES and where they stand as compared to the current EU countries in achieving the Lisbon targets. The article assesses whether the EES is appropriate for the labour markets of the future member states by analysing both the deficiencies and the positive elements of this strategy for these countries, taking into account proposals for a new revised EES adapted to the needs of changing labour markets, globalisation and enlargement.