News & Press

How to ensure that Europe’s economy is in a fit state to face up to the future challenges of alternative energy sourcing and the demands of climate change is an issue that has been steadily gaining importance on the political and social policy agenda in recent years. The future green economy is something that touches on many social and employment policy areas, including labour market planning, skills and competence building, and the protection of vulnerable social groups. In this article, we review the main findings of recent IES research looking at EU policy in this area.

In the previous issue, I expressed the view that the UK labour market might perform somewhat better in the current recession than many commentators predicted. The evidence so far is consistent with this view: in GDP terms, the UK recession is much deeper than both of the last two recessions, yet the fall in the employment rate is somewhat less severe than either.