01 Oct 2014

Time for some shock (absorption): Reinsurance of national unemployment insurance should be a Commission priority

Miroslav Beblavy / Ilaria Maselli

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In presenting their priorities for the new European Commission, Miroslav Beblavý and Ilaria Maselli assert in this CEPS Commentary that the time has come to devise an EU-level shock absorption mechanism. In their view, the instrument that best aligns varying political and economic objectives is a form of reinsurance of national systems of unemployment insurance. The primary motivation for the reinsurance proposal is that it can have a substantial stabilising effect, especially in case of large shocks, and, at the same time, be politically realistic in terms of contributions, costs and administrative burdens.

Miroslav Beblavý is Senior Research Fellow at CEPS. Ilaria Maselli is a researcher in the Economics and Social Welfare Policies unit at CEPS. This CEPS Commentary is one of a special series aimed at contributing to the selection and review process of the new European Commission.