The concept of labour in a European perspective

In this article, we first look at the pillars and guidelines of the European Employment Strategy that form the agreed targets of EU countries, and on which they base their National Action Plans concerning employment and labour market policies. In spite of the fundamental changes taking place in society in recent years, these pillars and guidelines have remained basically unchanged. We reflect critically on the EU targets and the principles underlying them, and comment on the implications of the narrow concept of labour inherent to the EU policies. In addition, we will explore how the traditional, narrow labour concept could be confronted with a more differentiated viewpoint, and consider the possible meaning of a basic income within this perspective. Finally, we make some remarks on developing such an alternative point of view, taking the perspective of modernisation of our traditional labour system as our point of departure.