A European unemployment benefit scheme: looking fo real alternatives Articles uri icon

publication date

  • July 2018

start page

  • 33

end page

  • 55

abstract

  • The first Great Repression of the 21st cen- tury, from 2007 to 2013, which saw the collapse of the most important economies in the world, had significant consequences, including high unemployment rates. In the case of the EU and the Eurozone, some particular difficulties had to be overcome, which made the crisis even deeper. The so- called "Eurozone crisis" arrived when several countries assumed private debts from their bailed-out banks. Hence, it start- ed the second part of the depression char- acterized by the difficulties of these states to repay or refinance their own sovereign debt. The special state of development of the Eurozone contributed in reinforcing the crisis, because some structures had not been worked out and the traditional nation- al tools linked to the monetary policy were no longer available. In this context, the proposal of the Europe- an Unemployment Benefit Scheme (EUBS) was raised. On the one hand, it would act as an automatic stabilizer, that is, giving the Eurozone those kinds of macroeco- nomic policies to fight against the effects of crisis whose lack reinforced it. On the other hand, it would allow a human face of the European economic governance to be shown, revitalising the social spirit of the European project. This article analyses the general framework of this proposal from an interdisciplinary perspective, highlighting his pros and cons and the different varieties which have been introduced. Additionally, it pr ovides the de- tails of one recent alternative that tries to overcome the legal (and political) difficul- ties to implement this translational scheme.

subjects

  • Law

keywords

  • unemployment; unemployment benefits; eu; eubs