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Politics

Social Europe is an award-winning digital media publisher driven by the core values of freedom, sustainability, and equality. These principles guide our exploration of society’s most pressing challenges. This archive page curates Social Europe articles focused on political issues, offering a rich resource for innovative thinking and informed debate.

When radical zealotry meets the polarising populists

Eszter Kováts

Some activist-scholars, Eszter Kováts writes, have turned social justice into a latter-day religion, with perverse effects.

How Putin’s narratives have survived reality checks

Precious Chatterje-Doody

Over 12 months of conflict, the Kremlin has relied on its tried and tested disinformation playbook.

The only way to end the war

Frans Timmermans

The EU must not only ensure that Ukraine can attain a just and lasting peace but support the embedding of universal norms.

The European Union at war

Jan Zielonka

How can a civilian power such as the EU, Jan Zielonka asks, contend with uncivilised behaviour?

Asylum: the EU’s misplaced moral compass

Enzo Rossi

The measures taken by the EU on asylum should be guided by a lawful and sincere humanitarianism.

‘You mean the prison?’: displaced people on Samos

Gemma Bird

The warehousing of asylum-seekers behind barbed wire encapsulates where ‘protecting borders’ leads.

Belarusian trade unionists take refuge in Germany

Rachel Knaebel

Exiled trade unionists continue their work, hoping to return to Belarus one day to rebuild their society.

The global AI race—it’s time to slow down

German Bender

The world’s largest companies cannot be given free rein in their competition to capitalise artificial intelligence.

Can the west woo Africa?

Ana Palacio

The west’s lack of engagement with Africa in recent years left behind a vacuum China and Russia have eagerly filled.

Conspiracies, detachment and confusion in Russia

Anna Matveeva

Almost a year into the war in Ukraine, Russians seem to be seeking ways to distance themselves from the state.

Options for Europe’s ‘geopolitical’ future

Jon Bloomfield

Global challenges have left only one option off the table for the European Union—inertia.

Reviving democracy in a fragmented Europe

Susanne Wixforth and Kaoutar Haddouti

Addressing economic inequality is key to restoring political participation and democratic legitimacy.

Pension reform in Germany—a market solution?

Fabian Mushövel and Nicholas Barr

The proposal for an equity reserve will not solve the challenge of making pensions sustainable.

The new European civil war

Guido Montani

However the war in Ukraine ends, a new iron curtain will follow unless the EU lives up to its ‘geopolitical’ aspirations.

The left and freedom

Robert Misik

Democratic socialists must take back the concept of freedom from the libertarians, Robert Misik writes.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: a reality check for the EU

Heidi Mauer, Richard Whitman and Nicholas Wright

The war has been widely portrayed as a turning point for EU foreign policy but it is more of an epiphany.

What it means when Jacinda Ardern calls time

Peter Davis

Jacinda Ardern’s resignation reflects the tough headwinds young progressive women face as political leaders.

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ETUI Advertisement

New Edition - Social policy in the European Union: state of play 2025

Can Europe preserve its distinctive social model while simultaneously rearming, reindustrialising, and reorganising its economy in a more conflictual and competitive world? This is the central question raised in this new edition of the Bilan social, a reference publication released every spring for more than 25 years by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) and the European Social Observatory (OSE).

READ HERE
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Is financial resilience and trust in Europe faltering?

In this episode of Eurofound Talks, host Mary McCaughey and senior researcher Eszter Sandor unpack the results of the 2025 Living and Working in the EU e-survey. While headline inflation has stabilised at 2.1%, the data reveals a continent gripped by chronic precariousness, with 57% of respondents now at risk of depression. Mary and Eszter explore how this economic insecurity is impacting institutional trust and democratic engagement.

LISTEN HERE
FEPS Advertisement

Read the book "The open future and its enemies" 

A robust democracy must not leave the future in the hands of the alliance between Big Tech and the far right. AI must be politically reined in and democratically shaped so that humanity retains its sovereignty.

Artificial intelligence is regarded as the driving force of progress. Yet it has long since become a challenge to democracy. The book argues that uncontrolled AI will erode our freedom, self-determination and democracy.

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Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

WSI Minimum Wage Report 2026

Minimum wage policy across Europe has shifted significantly, with many EU countries raising wages above average and anchoring them to adequate living standards. This trend is consolidating as countries increasingly adopt the reference values recommended in the European Minimum Wage Directive — recently upheld by the European Court of Justice.

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S&D Group in the European Parliament Advertisement

S&D Africa Days 2026

We are pleased to invite you to save the date for the S&D Africa Days 2026, taking place on 30 June and 1 July 2026, in Brussels. 

At a time when Africa is too often viewed through narrow and one-sided narratives, this initiative reflects a key political priority for the S&D Group: to advance a renewed, forward-looking partnership of equals between Europe and Africa based on equality, solidarity, social justice and shared progress. 

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FES Advertisement

“What is the actual purpose of the state?” – this central question is the focus of the analysis. At a time when bureaucratic processes are making life difficult for citizens, the paper proposes a three-part model. It aims at a conception of the state as a platform that helps society build the capabilities it needs to address its problems effectively.

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