News Flash
European economic lifeline at risk
In our last newswire we warned FedEE member companies about the significant threat to the European economy and employment posed by social unrest in the vicinity of the Suez canal. Instability in the region continues and the military has increased
Changing EU employment profile
The results of the 2012 EU Labour Force Survey reveals that the number of people working (or unemployed) in the European Union rose by 1.1 million between 2011 and 2012 to 241.1 million. Part of this increase was due to
Launch of FedEE Fellowship
2013 marks the 25th anniversary of our foundation. During this period the Federation of European Employers has grown to become a key resource for multinational HR and employment law professionals. Yet the HR role, particularly in the post-recessionary period, has
Growing threat to EU economy and jobs
Opposition groups are threatening to disrupt traffic through the Suez Canal if a law that would allow the Egyptian government to develop land along the canal is approved. In addition to local opponents who have a history of carrying out
Immigrants more likely to be unemployed
The latest figures from the EU’s statistical agency Eurostat show that in 2012 foreign citizens made up 7% of the EU’s workforce. Despite the right of free movement of workers between EU member states, a higher proportion of foreign workers
Rapid fall in eurozone price inflation
The annual rate of consumer price inflation (HICP) in the eurozone fell to 1.2% in April from 1.7% in March. Prices continue to fall in Greece (-0.6%) and prices are virtually stable in Cyprus (0.1%), Portugal (0.4%) and the Irish
Unions plan for trade talks
A meeting took place in Paris last week between the President of the US trade union body AFL-CIO and the General Secretary of the European Trade Union congress Bernadette Ségol.
The focus for their discussion was the social dimension of
Sharp cut in car fleet emission levels
The IT services and printing technology company, Ricoh, has just carried out a substantial overhaul of its European company car policy in order to reduce carbon emissions and control fuel costs. The company has reduced the suppliers list for its
Registered agreements unconstitutional
The Irish Supreme Court has ruled that registered employment agreements setting minimum pay rates in certain sectors are unconstitutional.
According to the court, the Industrial Relations Act of 1946 – which made provision for the agreements – “raised serious issues
Compensatory public holiday
The Aragon regional government in Spain has declared that Monday, October 13th 2014 will be a one-off public holiday to compensate for the fact that National Day next year falls on a Sunday. It can now be expected that other
Failing economy
The Spanish Institute for National Statistics has reported that 2,661 companies were declared bankrupt in Spain during Q1 2013 — an increase of 30.1% compared with the same period in 2012. The industries most affected by bankruptcy were construction (25.0%),
Mind your step with generation contracts
Under the terms of the French Decree on Generation Contracts which was passed earlier this Spring larger businesses are required to act before October 1st 2013 and smaller businesses may decide whether they wish to take a poison chalice offered
Immigration restrictions reapplied
As we predicted in our last newswire (25/04/2013) Switzerland has employed the “safeguard clause” provided for in its 1999 freedom of movement agreement with the European Union. From today (May 1st) quotas will apply to the issuing of long-term work
Prospect of new EU corporate tax haven
Portugal’s Economic Minister Alvaro Santos Pereira told a press conference following a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday that “We want more investment and the main instrument here is the reform of the company tax that we intend to carry out via
Court called to interpret fixed-term contract limits
The Swedish government continues to reject calls from the European Commission to reform its employment legislation to comply with the EU Directive on fixed-term workers (Council Directive 99/70/EC).
For the last six years the Commission has repeatedly demanded that Sweden