Proud contributor to @feps-europe.eu progressive post. The title summarises it well, it is clear that our animal spirits are not released by heightened insecurity. They are released when people can see something being built @etuc-ces.bsky.social feps-europe.eu/europe-needs...

Europe’s response must protect jobs, strengthen strategic sectors and ensure that the green and digital transitions deliver for working people. 📰⤵️

“The EU has already replaced one energy dependency with another; it must now double down on a just transition and wean itself off energy imports," said ETUC Deputy General Secretary @cmstahl.bsky.social.

“Europe must respond in a firm, proportionate and united manner. Fragmentation would only weaken our position and expose workers and industries to greater instability," said ETUC General Secretary @estherlynch.bsky.social.

The EU must ensure Trump tariffs don’t cost jobs. That means taking action to protect jobs and strategic industries. Crisis management tools should be urgently introduced.

Politics is not only about interests. It is about identity, meaning and the future. Populists understand this. Too often, we progressives have not. Why democracy must once again become a future people can shape together. My latest essay 👇 www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democ...

Clarity and legal certainty are needed before any further steps are taken. At our extra meeting tomorrow, I will therefore propose to the EP-negotiating team putting legislative work on hold until we have a proper legal assessment and clear commitments from the US side. (3/3)

Terms of Turnberry Agreement and legal basis on which it was built have changed. Do new tariffs based on Section 122 not constitute a breach of the deal? Regardless, no one knows whether the US will adhere to it – or even be able to (2/3)

Pure tariff chaos from the US administration. No one can make sense of it anymore — only open questions and growing uncertainty for the EU and other US trading partners (1/3)

Good news! US Supreme Court blocks Trump’s tariffs: trade policy must respect democracy and the rule of law.

Politics is not only about interests. It is about identity, meaning and the future. Populists understand this. Too often, we progressives have not. Why democracy must once again become a future people can shape together. My latest essay 👇 www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democ...

Excellent piece by @g-kwiatkowski.bsky.social Yes, the struggle for the soul of the world is now playing out in many places. www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democ...

When trying to improve competitiveness, EU leaders should avoid policies being captured by existing companies protecting their current business models. High environmental standards and investering in skills is better for the economy than deregulation. / #AldenBiesen

What Europe needs is a shared project that people can believe in – not a misguided business-led adjustment strategy and another abstract debate on competitiveness Read @cmstahl.bsky.social article on The Progressive Post @feps-europe.eu 👇 feps-europe.eu/europe-needs...

Proud contributor to @feps-europe.eu progressive post. The title summarises it well, it is clear that our animal spirits are not released by heightened insecurity. They are released when people can see something being built @etuc-ces.bsky.social feps-europe.eu/europe-needs...

My take on the meeting of EU leaders: a missed opportunity to launch an investment-led recovery open.substack.com/pub/andrewwa... If you want analysis of European economic and employment issues in your inbox - roughly weekly, I hope! - you can sign up for a free substack subscription.

This week, we also explore the EU’s #competitiveness 🇪🇺 Instead of deregulation, the EU needs a competing vision of competitiveness grounded in building capacity Read the Progressive Page by @cmstahl.bsky.social 🗞️ feps-europe.eu/europe-needs...

📣 Deregulation breeds uncertainty. It signals retreat rather than ambition. It risks reducing #competitiveness to short-term cost-cutting instead of long-term capacity-building. 👉 Read blog by @cmstahl.bsky.social in @feps-europe.eu ⬇️ #investments #strategy feps-europe.eu/europe-needs...

Mark Carney’s speech is well worth watching or reading www.weforum.org/stories/2026...

🧐Did you know? 👉Later this year, the #EC is expected to review #EURegulation1025/2012 on #Standardisation. 📢What are the @etuc-ces.bsky.social priorities? Watch the video below to find out 👇 @cmstahl.bsky.social @guido-dejongh.bsky.social

💡New to #standardisation? Here's the @etuc-ces.bsky.social handbook "Standards at the Workplace" 👉Now available in English, French and Swedish, you'll learn where #standards come from, and why they matter for #workers www.etuc.org/en/etuc-hand... @cmstahl.bsky.social @guido-dejongh.bsky.social

‼️ @etuc-ces.bsky.social: "EU-Mercosur: Safeguard mechanisms & flanking measures for #workers must be added to the agreement"‼️ @belgaenglish.bsky.social @brusselstimes.com @euobserver.com @rtbf-info.be @jpmarthoz.bsky.social @terzake.bsky.social @anneliesbeck.bsky.social @mondiaalnieuws.bsky.social

@etuc-ces.bsky.social calls for safeguard mechanisms and flanking measures for workers to be added to Mercosur agreement. @cmstahl.bsky.social : absent "the agreement risks fuelling social dumping, deepening inequalities and undermining public confidence in trade policy" www.etuc.org/en/pressrele...

@cmstahl.bsky.social 📢 "If labour commitments aren’t made stronger or if safeguard mechanisms & flanking measures are absent, the agreement risks fuelling social dumping, deepening inequalities & undermining public confidence in trade policy." Needed for the EU-Mercosur deal to deliver for workers⤵️

That means: 🔹 robust Trade & Sustainable Development chapter, enforcing ILO core conventions 🔹 real flanking measures for workers – access to funds, sectoral support, early social impact reviews 🔹 role for trade unions in monitoring & implementation 🔹 guarantee for social conditionality tools

Ahead of next week’s discussions on the EU-Mercosur agreement, we're calling on the EU & Member States to include strong safeguard mechanisms and flanking measures for workers. Trade can only support European policy objectives if it delivers decent work and fair competition.

🧤🏗️⛑️“Standards make a huge difference in workplaces across Europe" 💡Our Deputy Secretary General @cmstahl.bsky.social shares why standards matter to workers and what trade unions expect from the revision of EU Regulation 1025/2012 on #standardisation 👉 Full interview here shorturl.at/2yND0

@tuc.org.uk General Secretary @paulnowaktuc.bsky.social calls for “vastly improved” trading arrangement with EU given “fickle nature” of relations with US www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

The argument is that Europe underperforms in tech and biotech because it is “too expensive” to fire people.That may sound intuitively appealing but it is profoundly misleading.

Good piece by @cmstahl.bsky.social. Finland under the current Orpo government is a cautionary tale of trying (onstensibly) to build innovation and competitiveness by making firing easier and labour cheaper. Results: insecurity, distrust, conflict; stagnation, low investment, weak productivity.

Some ideas aren’t just wrong, they’re deeply misleading. “Hire-and-fire” cultures and chaos don’t produce innovation. The Orson Welles cuckoo clock argument was wrong then—and it’s wrong now.

It is important that Europe creates an environment in which start-ups and existing companies can scale up new activities, there can be experimentation and hings that don't work are allowed to fail. But flexible firing rules are not an important part of that environment. 👇

Some ideas aren’t just wrong, they’re deeply misleading. “Hire-and-fire” cultures and chaos don’t produce innovation. The Orson Welles cuckoo clock argument was wrong then—and it’s wrong now.

🎓At #FEPSAAA, 1st panel discusses #Progressive pro-Europeanism as narrative for necessary reforms 👉 @knutdethlefsen.bsky.social 👉Estelle Goeger 👉Ana Catarina Mendes 👉 @cmstahl.bsky.social 👉Jordi Harrison 👉 @afscharian.bsky.social Find out more on FEPS' work on #Training 🔗 feps-europe.eu/training/

📢 "Speeding up processes cannot undermine the consensus at the core of inclusive standardisation". 🙋 Our Deputy Secretary General @cmstahl.bsky.social at "A Strategic Dialogue for an Inclusive Standardisation System", on the importance of inclusiveness in revising the EU Reg. on Standardisation.

📢 This week in Dublin at the @etuc-ces.bsky.social, #ICTU and #NSAI awareness event on #standardisation. 💡 Keynote speakers @gerrymccormack.bsky.social and Geraldine Larkin opened the meeting, followed by a welcoming message of @cmstahl.bsky.social and great discussions with participants!

Today, a delegation of trade union leaders are brining the interests of working people to the highest level of the EU. At the #TripartiteSocialSummit, we are presenting our plan to put Europe’s Social Model at the core of its success today and into the future.

🙋 Today is #WorldStandardsDay2025! 👇 Ahead of the #EC revision of #EURegulation1025/2012 on #Standardisation, we share important priorities (further info: shorturl.at/Xto4u) 📢 For more on the ongoing EC public consultation, stay tuned! @cmstahl.bsky.social @etuc-ces.bsky.social

Huge numbers have shown up today for the national demonstration in #Brussels, Belgium. Workers and their unions 🟢🔴🔵 are taking a stand for #QualityJobs & fair pensions.

📢 The @etuc-ces.bsky.social brings the voice of millions of workers to #standardisation - to ensure it supports good working conditions. 👋 On #WorldStandardsDay2025, @etuc-ces.bsky.social Deputy General Secretary @cmstahl.bsky.social reflects on the role of inclusiveness in standardisation.

Democracy must not be a politics of closure but of continual renewal. Fear closes the future. Politics must be more than fear. Democracy is worth defending not only because it protects rights but because it keeps the future open. www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democ...

Having a piece on hope as a political choice published today. By coincidence today, as hope did return. How can progressives fight back the far right? @etuc-ces.bsky.social www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democ...

In fighting back against today’s right-wing populists, we must remember: hope is not naïve optimism. It is a political choice. Do not miss ETUC Deputy General Secretary @cmstahl.bsky.social piece on IPS journal ⤵️ www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democ...

Having a piece on hope as a political choice published today. By coincidence today, as hope did return. How can progressives fight back the far right? @etuc-ces.bsky.social www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democ...

Yes, shared prosperity is really possible. In these dark times I hope this book will provide readers a glimpse of a brighter future and ideas on how to get there. (And a big thank you to some of my favorite scholars who offered the words of praise on the back cover.)

🇲🇩 Moldova, you’ve done it again. 
No attempt to sow fear or division could break your resolve. You made your choice clear: 
Europe. Democracy. Freedom. Our door is open. And we will stand with you every step of the way.
 The future is yours.

Important good news from #moldova ….in the long run, Putin is losing… bbc.co.uk Pro-EU party in Moldova takes lead in election mired in claims of interference The vote is seen as critical for Moldova's future EU path, and President Maia Sandu has warned of Russian interference.

Good news! The new 🇪🇺🇮🇩trade agreement with Indonesia includes binding and enforceable sustainable development chapters containing a clear non-regression clause on labour rights. This is crucial, Indonesia ranks among the worst countries in the world for workers’ rights www.etuc.org/en/pressrele...

ETUC Deputy General Secretary @cmstahl.bsky.social said: "This agreement shows that geopolitics and the imperative to diversify Europe's supply chains do not trump the need to uphold workers' fundamental rights. Read more: www.etuc.org/en/pressrele...