Skip to content

Social Europe

  • Videos
  • Podcast
  • eBooks
  • Newsletter
  • Membership

Avatar photoMichael Davies-Venn

Michael Davies-Venn is a public-policy analyst and political-communications expert, based in Berlin, focused on issues of global governance, including climate change and human rights. He is a guest researcher in the Ethics of the Anthropocene Programme at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Sustainable Development Goals: time for a rethink

Michael Davies-Venn

A political reconceptualisation is critical if humanity’s hope for a sustainable global future is to be rescued.

Global environmental governance: reform urgent

Michael Davies-Venn

As COP27 opens in Egypt while famine sweeps Somalia, an outcome-based approach to climate change must replace the appearance of action.

Europe’s solution to its energy dependence

Michael Davies-Venn

Europe could simply buy fewer fossil fuels from Russia, maybe more from elsewhere—but there is a more fundamental answer.

Transforming German society

Michael Davies-Venn

More than profound changes to German citizenship laws will be needed to render a diverse society harmonious.

An unorthodox solution for Europe’s electricity crisis

Michael Davies-Venn

National schemes sparing consumers the worst impact of soaring prices are no substitute for the EU redefining electricity as a public good.

Ursula von der Leyen’s mission ‘to the moon’

Michael Davies-Venn

The European Green Deal rests on the commitment of the 27 member states. The fate of the renewable-energy directive shows the scale of that challenge.

The “Klimakanzlerin” Takes A Bow And Leaves A Vacuum

Michael Davies-Venn

COP 24 in Poland starts the exit of Chancellor Angela Merkel from international climate politics. And when she finally leaves in 2021, her exit from

Searching For Germany’s Volkspartei

Michael Davies-Venn

If the recent state elections in Bavaria and Hesse tell us anything at all, they simply provide three instructive lessons for Germany’s political elite. The

Unhinge Europe From America!

Michael Davies-Venn

After several months massaging Canadians, then US President Barack Obama announced his decision on the Keystone XL pipeline: “America is now a global leader when

Climate Finance: Waiting For The First EU $1 From Pledged $100 Billion

Michael Davies-Venn

Listening to Europe speak in Bonn, Germany during the recent conference on how to implement the Paris Agreement on climate change, it is possible to

Merkel Promises To Listen To The Cold Wind From The East

Michael Davies-Venn

A very important and instructive lesson that politicians and those in governments, the world over, should learn from the outcome of the latest German elections

ETUI advertisement

HESA Magazine Cover

Revisiting worker representation on boards

Board-level employee representation (BLER) has repeatedly resurfaced in times of crisis — from the 2008 financial crash to the Covid-19 pandemic — as a response to mismanagement and democratic erosion. Yet codetermination remains unevenly spread across the EU and underdeveloped within EU industrial relations. This ETUI volume revisits worker representation on company boards by shifting the focus beyond the usual German-centred lens and exploring debates, practices and social partners’ positions in ten often-overlooked EU Member States, to assess the prospects for such an institution to thrive in national social policy.

READ HERE

Eurofound advertisement

Mental Health
Eurofound Talks: Europe's productivity paradox

This episode of the Eurofound Talks podcast looks at why Europe has experienced a more profound slowdown in growth compared to other developed regions, and why greater labour input and higher human capital has not translated into higher output per worker. Mary McCaughey and John Hurley also discuss whether Europe can, and should, look to compete with countries such as the United States and China in the race to harness artificial intelligence.
LISTEN HERE

Foundation for European Progressive Studies Advertisement

Progressive Post Issues

The Autumn-Winter issue of The Progressive Post is out!”

Among this issue’s highlights, we debate war and defence, underlining the urgent necessity of peace. We look at the European Commission's budget proposal, particularly the fate of the cohesion funds, and at the EU's international partnerships and ask whether the EU can pursue its strategic interests while simultaneously promoting its partners' genuine development. Finally, we address COP30 and the issue of fossil fuels, which was intentionally ignored during the negotiations held in Brazil.

READ NOW

Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

WSI Report

WSI Minimum Wage Report 2025

The trend towards significant nominal minimum wage increases is continuing this year. In view of falling inflation rates, this translates into a sizeable increase in purchasing power for minimum wage earners in most European countries. Most EU countries are now following the reference values for adequate minimum wages enshrined in the European Minimum Wage Directive, which are 60% of the median wage or 50% of the average wage.

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT

S&D Group in the European Parliament advertisement

Cohesion Policy

S&D Position Paper on Cohesion Policy post-2027: a resilient future for European territorial equity

Cohesion Policy seeks to foster balanced development and reduce economic, social, and territorial disparities, focusing on rural areas, regions in industrial transition, and those with severe or permanent natural or demographic disadvantages, including outermost, sparsely populated, island, cross-border, and mountain regions.

READ THE PAPER HERE

S&D Group in the European Parliament advertisement

Health

🇪🇺 Building a Resilient, Equitable EU Health Union: The S&D Blueprint


From securing pharmaceutical autonomy and guaranteeing universal access to care (the European Health Guarantee) to combatting non-communicable diseases and closing the Gender Health Gap. Read the S&D Group in the European Parliament Position Paper demanding that health becomes a priority across all EU policies.

READ THE POSITION PAPER

Our Mission

People

Article Submission

Advertisements

Membership

Politics Archive

Economy Archive

Society Archive

RSS Feed

Legal Disclosure

Privacy Policy

Copyright

Social Europe ISSN 2628-7641

Copyright Social Europe Publishing & Consulting GmbH 2026
  • Videos
  • Podcast
  • eBooks
  • Newsletter
  • Membership