In Focus
Swedish MEPs: Climate crucial in EU elections
In the EU it is often said that the green transition will bring future jobs, but now the EU’s main climate actions are threatened. As June’s European Parliamentary elections approach, far-right parties want to either change or tear up existing decisions in the EU Green Deal and Fit for 55. The conservative EPP group is also looking at putting the brakes on the climate transition.
Claes-Mikael Ståhl: Money and solidarity needed for the green transition
Right-wing populists are gaining ground in Europe and if they get more power in the Parliament, ambitions for the green transition and for a social and just Europe risk being pushed back. "We worry about even more push-backs in the future," says Claes-Mikael Ståhl, the European Trade Union Congress Deputy General Secretary.
EU labour law after the parliamentary elections
What new labour legislation we can expect from the EU in the next five years? This depends as much on who becomes Commission President as on what the Parliament has on its wish list.
Mobilising for a strong social Europe
On 16 April, a new social declaration on the future of employment policy covering the years 2024 to 2019 was adopted in Belgian La Hulpe. The La Hulpe Declaration was signed by the Belgian Presidency on behalf of 25 countries. Sweden and Austria were the only EU states not to sign.
EU’s labour market wish list “could crash with the Nordic model”
The EU Parliament has drawn up a huge wish list for the labour market. Top social democrat candidate Johan Danielsson believes it contains reasonable demands. "The Nordic region has a lot to gain from improved working and living conditions in the rest of Europe, says Danielsson.
EEA report reignites Norway’s EU debate
It is nearly 30 years since Norwegians voted no to EU membership and also 30 years since Norway signed the EEA agreement. A new report on Norway in the EEA has reignited the debate about Norwegian EU membership.
EU and Nordics cooperate on energy poverty
New EU rules oblige the Nordic countries to ensure that energy crises do not lead to increased poverty. A new report recommends Nordic cooperation on the issue and a Danish MEP calls energy poverty “unsustainable”.
Severe drop in childbirth rates across the Nordics
What will happen to the Nordic labour market when birth rates in all of the five Nordic countries have fallen to record-low levels? Can existing assisted fertilisation technology help increase the number of children? Or is the drop in foreign adoptions larger?
Danish expert: Support young people to get pregnant, not to freeze their eggs
Female employees in large American companies can have their eggs frozen and delay having children – as a workplace benefit. A leading Danish infertility expert recommends Nordic employers and governments take an opposite approach and support young people to have children while they are students or newly employed.
Midwife – a norm-breaking profession for Swedish men
The Swedish labour market is very gender segregated. But some go against the grain. Like the men choosing to become midwives.
"Structures maintain the gender-segregated labour market"
“Men are underrepresented across the entire welfare sector, including healthcare, social care and education. Research shows that the reasons primarily lie on an organisational and structural level and that efforts to get more men to choose jobs in the welfare sector therefore must also be targeted at an organisational and structural level.”
2024 Equality barometer: Three significant women have disappeared from power
Two years ago, it looked like the 24 positions of power in the NLJ’s gender equality barometer were just a few years away from being equally divided between men and women. Women had reached 92 points, and at 100 they would be on par with men. But in 2023, women’s points fell to 72 and this year sees a further fall down to 65 points.
Danish Royal stardust for youth jobs in Esbjerg
”Energy for Each Other” is a youth initiative in Esbjerg municipality, known across Denmark, which has won an award for getting young people into education and work. Three of those young people now work at Den Jyske Kontrolcentral, where head of operations Erik Sørensen is very content with his young co-workers.
Employment specialist helped Norwegian Julia (17) find her dream job
Close cooperation between two public authorities in Norway is giving young people with mental health challenges a new chance in the classroom or in the labour market. Employment specialist Anne Tvedt helped Julia Engan Pettersen find her dream job.
Iceland: Work is better than therapy for vulnerable youth
“It pays to invest in people, and we must never give up on our young people,” says Vigdís Jónsdóttir, the CEO of the job rehabilitation centre VIRK in Iceland. Last year, VIRK was one of the signatories to a memorandum of understanding involving a large increase in support for young people in vulnerable situations.
Nordic researchers want political action on NEETs
More and more young people in the Nordics are not in education or employment. Not enough is done to help young people facing extra challenges, argue Nordic researchers.
Considerable local differences in Sweden's efforts for NEETs
Swedish municipalities have very different approaches to how they help more young people with social inclusion, according to a survey that also includes examples of successful measures. Meanwhile, a Nordic project is working to improve young people’s mental health – one of the biggest risk factors for ending up in social exclusion.
Aiming for full mobility in the Nordic region’s largest labour market
The Öresund Bridge is 25 next year, yet despite the good commuting opportunities it offers there is still a way to go before the Nordic’s largest labour market is fully integrated. This year, Sweden holds the Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers, and greater mobility in the Nordic region is a top priority.
How the EU deals with border barriers
The EU also has programs working on removing border barriers. The best-known is Solvit, a problem-solving network which can be found in every EU/EEA country. Citizens and businesses can use this free service if they believe a country is in breach of EU rules and legislation.
Nordic Freedom of Movement Council gears up to banish border barriers
The Nordic region aims to be the world’s most sustainable and integrated region by 2030. To achieve that, we need to change gears, facilitate trade and focus on removing the remaining border barriers, says Anders Ahnlid, the new Swedish representative on the Nordic Freedom of Movement Council.
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