Brexit and the misunderstanding of sovereignty
While the negotiators haggle over a deal to avoid a new-year car crash, the fundamental problem is the obsolete notion of sovereignty held in London.
Politics
Analysis and debate on European and national politics, democracy, the rule of law, parties and elections, and Europe’s place in the world.
Reform of global taxation cannot wait
The huge fiscal pressures occasioned by the pandemic mean global tax-gaming by corporations and the wealthy is a luxury we can no longer afford.
The Biden victory and the future of the centre-left
Postwar global progress has hinged on a transatlantic alliance of progressive parties. The election in the United States potentially opens a new chapter.
The rule of law: a simple phrase with exacting demands
Albena Azmanova and Kalypso Nicolaïdis
If the finger is to be pointed—rightly—at Hungary and Poland, then the EU must insist on compliance by all with universal norms.
Care, capitalism and politics
The coronavirus crisis has highlighted how the welfare state of the future must be built on an ethic of care rather than self-interest.
Barrelling towards the ‘Brexit’ cliff edge
The most frightening thing is not the UK government’s end-game strategy, Paul Mason writes. It’s that there isn’t one.
Europe must stand up to Hungary and Poland
The European Union cannot afford to compromise on the rule-of-law provisions it applies to the funds it allocates to member states.
The rise of right-wing nationalism: from Poland to Polanyi
Karin Pettersson argues that far from history ‘ending’ in 1989 it has returned, with a vengeance, due to the very deregulation its trumpeters embraced.
The lost cause of the Trumpocracy
Like the southerners who never could get over their loss in the American civil war, Trump has nothing left but his own mythology.
Minimum-wage directive: yes, but …
Torsten Müller and Thorsten Schulten
The draft minimum-wage directive is a crucial first step but more needs to follow on the way to a social Europe.
The right to socially useful work
Amid the 1970s economic crisis in Britain, Lucas Aerospace workers, threatened with redundancy, developed a plan for socially useful work. It’s an idea whose time has come.
Is the coronavirus going to reshape the European welfare state?
In the wake of the pandemic, the classical variety of national welfare models must be transformed into a multi-level social citizenship.
Work for all
An EU-wide job guarantee would be a counter-cyclical measure to tackle the health, employment and ecological crises together.
A watershed moment for citizenship education in Europe
The pandemic has reinforced the need for citizenship education, so individuals are equipped to cope with its global challenges—and all the others.
A new start for transatlantic social democracy?
A Biden administration could join forces with progressive Europe to rebut polarising populism on both sides of the pond.
Poland’s abortion protests—democratic standards at stake
The passion behind the demonstrations signifies a battle for basic democratic standards in a world of creeping authoritarian temptations.