Fact Service April 2021

Issue 14

EU making 'very slow progress’ on decent work

No EU country has a sustainable and fair economic model, and the EU as a whole is making “very slow” progress on decent work, the ETUC (European Trade Union Confederation) has charged.

Greece, Italy, Spain, Bulgaria and Romania were the worst performers when measured against the organisation’s index of decent work and sustainable development, it said.

The performance of Greece was worse in 2019 than in 2010, while the performance of Luxembourg and the UK was worse than it was in 2015. The index also underlines how GDP has little bearing on decent work: Ireland, which has experienced high levels of GDP growth in recent years, performed badly in the Decent Work Index because its GDP is based on extremely low corporation tax and government expenditure on social protection, the organisation says.

https://www.etuc.org/en/document/etucs-decent-work-sustainable-growth-index-briefing-note