Books

The shape of things to come: labour’s new thinking

After the 1970s it was inevitable that the Conservative party would move away from the postwar consensus, but it was Margaret Thatcher who made it Thatcherite. In the 1990s Labour was bound to be centrist; but Blair and Brown gave New Labour its distinctive shape.

After the banking crisis Labour was bound to reflect a public mood more critical of neo-liberal economics, and less confident about big state spending, but Labour in 2012 will also be shaped by the particular politics and personality of Ed Miliband.

Since becoming Labour leader Ed Miliband has successfully opened several new national political debates, from the ‘squeezed middle’ to ‘responsible capitalism’ and concern about diminishing opportunities for the rising generation. These essays explore where this politics could take Labour – and there is a striking coherence, radicalism and optimism about the future they see.

Published with the financial support of the European Parliament by the FEPS and the Fabians Society. Edited by John Denham. Foreword by Ernst Stetter with chapters by David Clark, Rowenna Davis, Helen Goodman, Kate Green, Andrew Harrop, Will Hutton, Rick Muir, Nick Pecorelli, Matthew Pennycook, Rachel Reeves, Marc Stears, Chuka Umunna and Kitty Ussher.

Divided they stand

The uprising which erupted in Syria in March 2011 has become the most protracted and destabilizing of all the revolutions now sweeping the Arab world. With the government weakened but the regime largely intact, the opposition has little hope of defeating Assad on its own. He, in turn, seems equally unable to extinguish the protests. As the conflict grinds on, the anti-regime movement has increasingly turned to armed struggle, while sectarian sentiment is inflamed by conflict and violence as the country enters the early stages of a civil war.

This paper edited in May 2012 by Aron Lund, a Swedish writer and journalist specialising in Middle Eastern affairs, presents one the most comprehensive description of the Syrian opposition available to date. It grapples with the problems caused by internal disagreements and severe structural weaknesses and the opposition’s inability to provide an effective alternative to the Assad regime.

Previous publications by Lund include Drömmen om Damaskus (’The Dream of Damascus’), a book on Syria’s regime and opposition movements, and The Ghosts of Hama. The Bitter Legacy of Syria’s Failed 1979-1982 Revolution.

This book is edited by FEPS in cooperation with the Olof Palme International Center, with the financial support of the European Parliament

Fair, Robust and Sustainable. A Receipe for Europe’s growth

Co-produced by FEPS and Italianieuropei, this book, which includes contributions by some of the most authoritative experts on infrastructure development and welfare reform, sets out to address the crucial and topical question of European growth from transnational perspectives.

The integrated Europe is called upon to draw up and promote a strategy for the governance of the market that opens up new prospects for economic growth and civil progress for European citizens.

Co-produced by FEPS and Italianieuropei, « Fair, Robust and Sustainable. A Receipe for Europe’s growth » has been edited by Claudio De Vicenti, Italian Deputy Minister for Economic Development since November 2011 and Professor of Economics at the University “La Sapienza”, Rome.

This book includes contributions by some of the most authoritative experts on infrastructure development and welfare reform, sets out to address the crucial and topical question of European growth from transnational perspectives.

It is a valuable and ambitious project, proposing policies and solutions that – taking into due account the differences between cultures, backgrounds and experiences – could be adopted by the EU member states in order to encourage that qualitative leap Europe is waiting for.

Austerity is not the solution!

Edited by FEPS with the financial support of the European Parliament, this book provides contributions from various academic and political leaders engaged in the debate about the framework of the future of economic policy in Europe. They all share the view that austerity measures, only magnified under the “fiscal compact” cannot be the right answer to alleviate the crisis that we have now been experiencing for several years.

The authors tend to share the view that a proper recovery plan will need a new macroeconomic framework, through wage, fiscal and public policies, complementary to a much stronger and strengthened financial regulation. A wage standard integrating both the need for social redistribution and tackling trade imbalances should be considered, as well as new sources of financing, such as financial transaction taxes, Eurobonds, or the increase of the EIB capital and the EU budget.

Scientific Coordination by Matthieu Méaulle, FEPS Senior Research Fellow. Contributions from Gustav A. Horn, Director, Sergio Rossi, Paolo Guerrieri, Rémi Bazillier, Paul Sweeny, Emiliano Brancaccio,Andrew Watt, James Galbraith, Pierre Defraigne, Daniel Cohen, Udo Bullmann, Stephany Griffith-Jones, Lars Andersen, Diego Lopez Garrido, Toralf Pusch, Ulf Meyer-Rix, Maria Joao Rodrigues, Ernst Stetter, Matthieu Méaulle

Rethinking social risk in the Nordics

The Nordic welfare regimes have been for long characterised by effective management of social risk, which has led to high levels economic competitiveness, social cohesion and well-being in all Nordic countries.

The book “Rethinking Social Risks in the Nordics” Ville-Pekka Sorsa (University of Helsinki) is part of the Nordic Economies after the Crisis project, started by FEPS in 2010 with the support of the Finnish Kalevi Sorsa Foundation, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Joint Committee of the Nordic Social Democratic Labour Movement (SAMAK), Economic Council of the Labour Movement in Denmark and Swedish Arbetarrörelsens Tankesmedja.

The Nordic welfare regimes have been for long characterised by effective management of social risk, which has led to high levels economic competitiveness, social cohesion and well-being in all Nordic countries. This success is caused by high degree of universalism in state-led social protection common to all Nordic countries. This volume questions this view. While there is some truth in this success story, it is not the whole story. The Nordic approaches have been characterised by a great variety of public, occupational and private solutions for assessing, distributing and managing social risks. Even though common developments and some family resemblance can be found, all Nordic countries have differed in their approaches to social risk and opted for different political trajectories at different points of time.

This volume sheds light over the Nordic approaches to social risk and provides new theoretical approaches to the politics of social risk more generally. It also provides new insights to and critiques of the contemporary Nordic politics of social risk. It is essential reading for all international political actors and scholars interested in the Nordic public policies and politics of social risks.

Germany in and with and for Europe

Those with a sense of history know that many of the world’s great political projects have emerged from periods of conflict followed by subsequent cooperation and consensus-building. This was certainly the case with the “European project” and its present manifestation, the European Union. Sometimes it is necessary to draw on the wisdom of elder statesmen – whose lives have been punctuated by these struggles and efforts at cooperation – to remind us of the origins of such projects as these and of their fragility.

In his speech ‘Germany in and with and for Europe’, former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt provided his audience at the 2011 SPD Congress with an honest and reflective assessment of the European project and of Germany’s place within it.

While this speech was given in German and comes from the centre of Europe, FEPS has wished to disseminate this throughout Europe and to the periphery. Therefore, the Foundation took the initiative to give the peoples of Europe a chance to share former Chancellor Schmidt’s reflections in their own languages.

Prefaced by Massimo D’Alema, President of FEPS and Former Prime Minister of Italy and Sigmar Gabriel, Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, edited by FEPS with the financial support of the European Parliament, this book offers the version of this very important speech in DE-EN-BG-ES-CZ-DA-EL-FR-IT-HU-NL-PL-PT-RO-FI-SV.

Europe’sleft in the crisis

Pamphlet edited by Ernst Stetter and Sunder Katwala, with editorial support from Ania Skrzypek, Tim Horton and Ed Wallis. Published by FEPS and Fabian Society...

This pamphlet presents a relevant contribution to a debate on the overall crisis of Europe and on the specific conditions that progressives find themselves in the 21st century.

The two decades of the constant institutional and socio-economic reforms on the European level did not generate sufficient public support to lift the EU from its paralyzing crisis and hence to proceed to the next stage of integration.

These outstanding contributions by Roger Liddle, Alfred Gusenbauer and Jessica Atto (among others) seek to find the answers to the question “what next?”, both in terms of making a case for Europe in Britain, as also across the continent – balance between which questions is ensured by the distinguished editorial team of Ernst Stetter and Sunder Katwala.

The Euro-Mediterranean dialogue: prospects for an area of prosperity and security

The official starting point of the EU-Mediterranean relations – after the less known Global Mediterranean Policy (GMP) launched in the 1970s – was the ambitious initiative of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP, or Barcelona Process), established by the Euro-Mediterranean Conference of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, held on 27 and 28 November 1995 in Barcelona. The aim of the Partnership was to strengthen relations with the Southern Mediterranean Partners through three main objectives and to lay down a broad framework of political, economic, financial, social and cultural relations with these countries. This process has been going on for 13 years now, but its efficiency and success are doubted for several reasons.

The breakdown of the Middle East Peace Process has a huge effect on the progress of the EMP, mainly on the political and security chapter. Due to this factor, the political and cultural dimension, which is considered to be more successful, is also hindered and, according to analysts, the results certainly leave room for improvement. The predominance of the European Union in this process is also a target of criticism, because it gives the impression of inequality among the members of the Barcelona Process. The proposal put forward by Nicolas Sarkozy during his electoral campaign to establish a “Mediterranean Union” cannot only be seen as an alternative to Turkish membership in the EU, but also as a sign of dissatisfaction with the existing EMP. According to the original plan, which created serious tension between France and Germany, the Mediterranean Union would have ten member states, five from the northern shore and five from the southern shore; it would have been entirely independent and would not have been a part of the Barcelona Process. In her speech, Angela Merkel warned Sarkozy that if the Mediterranean countries wanted to establish a union completely apart from the other European countries, such a union would be a crucial test for Europe, with the result that Germany would turn more towards Eastern European countries, while France would turn more towards southern countries. In the end, the proposal was integrated in the Barcelona Process under the name “Union for the Mediterranean” (UfM) and it certainly gave a boost to relations between the northern and southern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. On the occasion of the Conference of Foreign Ministers in Marseille, held on 3 and 4 November 2008, the project was given a concrete form by the designation of Barcelona as the headquarters of the UfM and by the determination of a new institutional architecture. But the question is: will this new structure ensure a closer and more efficient process? This project was so dear to the French presidency of the EU, but what will happen next?

Convinced that there is a need for a Mediterranean policy based on solidarity, dialogue, cooperation and exchange, the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) – which aims at being a leading and unifying force on the intellectual social-democratic European scene – and Italianieuropei – an Italian think tank designed to promote a Europe-minded political culture – decided to publish a report on EU-Mediterranean relations. The objective would be to analyze the state of play of the EU initiatives towards that region. In order to give a balanced image of the EMP and to enable the reader to have an overview of different opinions, the report consists of articles written by a number of authors from both the northern and southern shore of the Mediterranean region. The report is divided into three main parts, each of them focusing on different topics. The first part offers a historical overview of the past European projects in the Mediterranean. The second part gives an analysis of the economic relations between the two shores of the Mediterranean Sea. The third part is a collection of articles giving an assessment of the political dialogue between the EU and its Mediterranean partners. The report concludes with a critical work on the future prospects of the Barcelona Process and the UfM.

This publication, edited and introduced by two independent think tanks, will be helpful in our task of supporting a consolidation of the Euro-Mediterranean area, which has to be based on democratic principles, respect for the rule of law and human rights, the strengthening of regional cooperation and of social and environmental integration.

Making Europe Nobel Laureate in Education

In the year 2000 the leaders of the European Union launched the goal that the EU ought to become the most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010. But, as we know today, this is not the case. At the opposite: Europe has lost ground over the last ten years. GDP has grown with less then 2 percent per year since the year 2000, and the employment rate in EU27 was already in 2008, before the economic crisis, a meagre 66 percent.

One reason behind our poor performance in Europe is that our education system isn’t working well enough. The performance of our educational system is on average with other industrialized countries, but we are losing ground. In addition there are important inequities within Europe, due to social, gender, economic and geographical background.

If we want to regain our competitive position, more investments in our people are needed. It should both be about volume, like more study places at higher education institutions and increased training for adults, and about quality, as a better organized primary education.

In “Making Europe Nobel Laureates in Education” Europe’s educational performances is studied in depth. The authors Pär Nuder, former Minister of Finance in Sweden, and Sebastian de Toro, Political advisor at the Swedish Social Democratic Parliamentary group, have visited 12 countries, organized seminars in 8 European cities and met numerous scholars, politicians, and representatives from business and NGOs. Researchers across Europe have been hired to write reports on different parts of the educational chain.

In total the authors present 46 proposals of how to improve Europe’s educational performance.