The paper is an attempt to outline the various reactions to the so called “flexicurity” concept in three EU-15 member states, namely Greece, Portugal and the UK. The importance of discourse in reform introduction and implementation is followed by the short history of flexicurity and a brief description of the major reforms carried out in line with Lisbon Strategy’s goals and EU Employment Strategy’s guidelines by the national governments of the aforementioned member states.
The main part of the paper is dedicated to a thorough analysis of the flexicurity discourse as it unfolds in European quality press columns. Quality, high circulation, non-alignment (with a certain political party), free archive accessibility via internet are the criteria that led to the selection of Η Καθημερινή for Greece, Diário de Notícias for Portugal and Financial Times (also references to The Guardian and The Independent) for the UK.
Read the paper: Sofia Michalaki – Flexicurity, Flexigurança, Evasfaleia… Different perceptions through major European newspapers