European workers cannot become collateral damage in trade disputes The EU has the tools to protect workers and industries and must use them if the United States announces new unilateral tariffs under a false pretext 📰 www.etuc.org/en/pressrele...
Claes-Mikael Stahl
@cmstahl.bsky.social
Deputy General Secretary of the ETUC. Brussels. Trade Unionist.
IF Metall and the trade union movement are standing up for Swedish collective agreements, for decent working conditions, and for every worker’s right to security and respect. It is time for Tesla to come to the negotiating table.
Excellent news. The key point - both for the business decision and the political message it sends - is simple: green steel is the future.
Mats Engström@matsengstrom.bsky.social · 4mo agoSeems like Swedish green steel company #Stegra will survive. www.di.se/nyheter/kall...
Four years ago, Orbán gloated that his election victory was so big that it could be seen even from Brussels. Today's defeat is such that it can be seen even from Washington and Moscow.
Viktor Orbán concedes defeat as opposition wins Hungarian election
Win for Tisza party ends rightwing populist’s 16-year grip on power and will likely reshape country’s relationship with EU
theguardian.com
🙏 Many thanks to the many contributors! Nicolas Schmit László Andor Estelle Ceulemans MEP @emsent.bsky.social @cmstahl.bsky.social Felix Hett Mario Del Pero @hjalloul.bsky.social @ebenvenisti.bsky.social Tim Haesebrouck @renatazilli.bsky.social Stefan Sipka @maritmaij.bsky.social
Clarity First:majority of EU-US negotiating team of @EP_Trade agreed to reassess situation again next week. Businesses&consumers need stable tariff regime&we still don’t have that. Cannot take decisions in a vacuum. Would be irresponsible to adopt legisl. without legal certainty
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 needs animal spirits again – and deregulation will not stimulate them - Foundation for European Progressive Studies
Europe’s competitiveness debate is accelerating under a growing sense of urgency. Slowing growth, geopolitical rivalry […]
feps-europe.eu
Europe’s response must protect jobs, strengthen strategic sectors and ensure that the green and digital transitions deliver for working people. 📰⤵️
etuc.org
“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...
What progressives must relearn
Freedom is not the absence of constraints, but the collective capacity to shape what comes next
ips-journal.eu
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.
Euronews@euronews.com · 6mo agoThe US Supreme Court struck down Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs, ruling the president overstepped his authority by invoking emergency powers.
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...
What progressives must relearn
Freedom is not the absence of constraints, but the collective capacity to shape what comes next
ips-journal.eu
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...
The allure of darkness
Mann argued that the success of demagogues depends less on strategic brilliance than on favourable circumstances and, above all, a lack of resistance
ips-journal.eu
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
EU leaders’ retreat needs to hear less about ‘deregulation’ from Draghi
Big and small European companies are most concerned about the lack of skilled staff. So why is this not a key topic at the EU leaders' retreat on 12 February in the Alden Biesen castle, when 'simplif...
euobserver.com
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...
Europe needs animal spirits again – and deregulation will not stimulate them - Foundation for European Progressive Studies
Europe’s competitiveness debate is accelerating under a growing sense of urgency. Slowing growth, geopolitical rivalry […]
feps-europe.eu
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 needs animal spirits again – and deregulation will not stimulate them - Foundation for European Progressive Studies
Europe’s competitiveness debate is accelerating under a growing sense of urgency. Slowing growth, geopolitical rivalry […]
feps-europe.eu
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.
Belgian castles in the air
A missed opportunity for competitiveness through investment
open.substack.com
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...
Europe needs animal spirits again – and deregulation will not stimulate them - Foundation for European Progressive Studies
Europe’s competitiveness debate is accelerating under a growing sense of urgency. Slowing growth, geopolitical rivalry […]
feps-europe.eu
📣 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...
Europe needs animal spirits again – and deregulation will not stimulate them - Foundation for European Progressive Studies
Europe’s competitiveness debate is accelerating under a growing sense of urgency. Slowing growth, geopolitical rivalry […]
feps-europe.eu
Mark Carney’s speech is well worth watching or reading www.weforum.org/stories/2026...
Davos 2026: Special address by Mark Carney, PM of Canada
Canadian PM Mark Carney stressed the end of the rules-based international order and urged middle powers to act together to counter the great power rivalry.
weforum.org
🧐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 handbooks on standardisation
In 2025, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the ETUC’s active participation in standard-setting, we published two handbooks: Standards at the workplace This handbook explains where standards come from and how they are developed. The handbook also provides insight into the impact of standards on workers.
etuc.org
‼️ @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...
EU-Mercosur: Safeguard mechanisms and flanking measures for workers must be added to the agreement
Ahead of the discussions and potential Council decision to authorise the signing of the EU-Mercosur agreement the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) urges EU institutions and Member States to ensure that any move forward is accompanied by strong social safeguards, including clear and credible safeguard mechanisms and flanking measure for workers and effective implementation of labour commitments.
etuc.org
@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⤵️
EU-Mercosur: Safeguard mechanisms and flanking measures for workers must be added to the agreement
Ahead of the discussions and potential Council decision to authorise the signing of the EU-Mercosur agreement the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) urges EU institutions and Member States to ensure that any move forward is accompanied by strong social safeguards, including clear and credible safeguard mechanisms and flanking measure for workers and effective implementation of labour commitments.
etuc.org