In this FEPS Talks, Professor Sacha Garben and Dr. David Rinaldi discuss how the social policies of the EU can develop in response to the COVID19 pandemic. In aftermath of the financial crisis the dominant neoliberal paradigm sacrificed welfare and wellbeing over the sustainability of public finance; how to ensure that the winning ideas and policy response are based on a people-first approach? The European Commission had tabled some important measures with a seizable social impact: an EU-wide minimum wage and a European unemployment reinsurance scheme: what is politically feasible in this domain? Professor Garben explains that despite the European Pillar of Social Rights, the EU is not yet equipped with the legal means to protect EU workers, particularly those working with atypical contracts and she advances some suggestions to address this. In this global health crisis, can EU policy-makers recognise the need for deeper solidarity and for a Union that put social outcomes and wellbeing first?
