We Work Europe

A cross-border worker may pay unemployment contributions in one country but receive benefits from another. The EU is revising how its national social security systems coordinate, including the rules for unemployment benefits. Silvia Kersemakers of the European Commission explains the proposed changes. Mandy Noesen of the Luxembourg based trade union LCGB asks how they will work in practice, while researcher Frédéric de Wispelaere looks at the gap between rights on paper and the help workers can actually access.
In the final episode of our series, we ask how Europe can make free movement work for the people who rely on...

What happens when a cross-border worker falls ill, loses a job or needs to claim a pension? The answer can depend on rules and deadlines in more than one country. Nicole Steil-Elenz of the LCGB describes the cases that arrive at the union’s advice centre near the Luxembourg–German border. In the Upper Rhine region, Daniela Zink explains how employment services, trade unions and other specialists work together to help people find the right authority. The second episode of our series asks who takes responsibility when a worker’s life spans two national systems.
Find more on this topic in the latest...

Around 1.9 million people in Europe live in one country and work in another. In Luxembourg, cross-border workers make up almost half the workforce. Yet an open border does not mean that tax and social security rules disappear. Axel Ludwig, a staff representative at the Luxembourg Post Office, explains why commuting and limits on working from home are making cross-border jobs less attractive. Mandy Noesen of the trade union LCGB, an EZA member, shows how the trade union supports workers on both sides of the border. What does it take to make a single labour market work in everyday life?...

Factories that used to manufacture trains or steel are now being used by the arms industry. Companies such as Rheinmetall, Thales and Leonardo are offering workers new jobs. Consulting firms promise an economic boost thanks to investments in rearmament. However, economist Nan Tian of SIPRI is sceptical. From an economic perspective, he argues against these investments. They would be better spent on infrastructure, healthcare or education.

Matteo Bracciali, vice-president of ACLI (the Christian Association of Italian Workers), also criticises the EU's approach to spending. He suggests a unified European army and much less money for military purposes. According to Bracciali...