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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.

European cityscape with stars and historic buildings, Social Europe.

Europe Must Re-Build Its Architecture—Now!

Almut Möller

The US National Security Strategy confirms what Europeans already suspected: they must forge their own continental framework.

High-speed train at mountain station, Social Europe.

Europe’s Rail Renaissance: Why the Continent Must Finally Bet on Its Own Trains

Lukas Oberndorfer

The EU has the technology, the workers and the demand—now it needs the political will to turn its railway industry into a climate-policy success story.

Donald Trump — author portrait, Social Europe.

Can the EU Still Escape the Authoritarian Pull of the USA?

Jürgen Habermas

Waning US leadership and China's new world order compel Europe to unite or face marginalization.

Man in a yellow helmet observing a construction site, social Europe.

The EU’s Largest Investment Programme Holds Lessons We Cannot Afford to Ignore

Steffen Lehndorff

The Next Generation EU programme, despite sluggish implementation and limited coverage, reveals how industrial policy can drive green transition—if governments act.

Two faces in profile with European and American symbols.

Europe’s Foreign Policy Is Broken by Design—Here’s How to Fix It

Guillaume Duval

Kaja Kallas is not the problem; the EU's dysfunctional institutional architecture is crippling its global influence.

Scales of justice over a cityscape with mountains and red sky.

Chile’s Democracy Faces Its Gravest Test Since Pinochet

Eduardo Engel and Benjamín García

A far-right candidate threatens to dismantle decades of democratic progress in Latin America's most celebrated success story.

Fictional university library facade, European style, with towers and arches.

Why European Universities Must Not Follow America’s

Guy Standing

The American model has produced rentier capitalism and functional illiteracy—Europe's universities must return to their civilising mission.

Woman with glasses using a laptop on a yellow sofa, surrounded by digital icons.

The Digital Omnibus: Deregulation Dressed as Innovation

Aida Ponce Del Castillo

The EU's sweeping data and AI package loosens safeguards for workers while promising competitiveness gains that will flow mainly to US tech giants.

People walking in a park with trees and a clock tower, digital illustration.

Poland Shows Hungary How Grassroots Democracy Can Defeat Authoritarian Drift

Edit Zgut-Przybylska

Civil society and local autonomy proved decisive in Poland's democratic revival—lessons Hungary must now learn.

A man sitting in a chair with a large face and colourful thoughts around him.

Why Political Imagination Has Died—And How to Resurrect It

Siemen Van den Broecke

Margaret Thatcher's ghost haunts global politics as leaders worldwide embrace her "no alternative" mantra, leaving citizens trapped in a system that refuses to acknowledge its own ideology.

Government building with roots extending underground, digital illustration.

Uruguay’s Enduring State: From Century-Old Consensus to Twenty-First Century Trials

Aníbal Peluffo, Patricia González and Viviana Barreto

A nation built on public provision faces new tests as crime, inequality and demographic shifts challenge its foundational social contract.

A digital illustration of a large, interconnected office space with many workers and technology.

The Algorithmic Workplace: How Platformisation Is Reshaping Work in Europe

Enrique Fernández-Macías, Sally Wright and Davide Villani

New evidence reveals that data-driven management now shapes how millions work across Europe—with profound implications for autonomy and well-being.

A man in a suit looks at Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.

Sir Keir Starmer Wants Growth—Perhaps He Should Learn Spanish

Denis MacShane

Spain's socialist government has delivered economic growth three times faster than Britain's; Labour would do well to study how.

Man riding a bicycle with UK and EU flags in the background.

The UK-EU Reset Needs Strategic Planning, Not Summit Improvisation

Jannike Wachowiak

Without careful preparation and raised ambitions, the 2026 summit risks becoming a missed opportunity to inject real momentum into UK-EU relations.

Aerial view of a colourful maze with a central tower and pathways.

Brazil in the Labyrinth: State, Democracy and Inequality

Francisco Gaetani

As Brazil approaches crucial elections, the country must confront deep structural challenges that have undermined democratic progress for decades.

Diverse group of people waiting in line, social distancing, urban setting.

Why Europe Should Be Serious About Transparency on Pay

Marianna Baggio and Christine Aumayr-Pintar

The EU's Pay Transparency Directive offers a powerful tool for equality, but only if member states implement it with rigour and ambition.

Donald Trump — illustrated portrait, Social Europe.

Trump’s Ukraine Deal Is the Wrong Way to Peace in Ukraine

Timothy Snyder

Timothy Snyder thinks the proposed settlement negotiated by Russia and the US would make the world far more dangerous.

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S&D Group in the European Parliament Advertisement

S&D Housing Storytelling

Europeans are struggling with rising housing and rental costs, and we have been working in various ways to address this, because we believe a home is a right for everyone.
 Recently, we travelled across Europe to hear directly from people who struggle to afford a decent place to live. They shared a glimpse of how the housing crisis has affected their lives and why having a home is so important to them. Take a moment to check out their stories. They remind us why it is so urgent to act.

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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
Eurofound Advertisement

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
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The Summer issue of The Progressive Post is out! 

The EU is belatedly awakening to a changing Mediterranean sea, where more assertive regional powers are reclaiming a role.

The new issue of the magazine also reflects on how we struggle to keep pace with AI innovations, examines the uncertainties surrounding the execution of the Pact on Migration and Asylum and the risk to human rights posed by the Return Regulation, and focuses on the EU Commission's newly proposed Industrial Accelerator Act.

READ THE MAGAZINE
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WSI Industrial Action Report 2025 cover page with red and white design.

The 2025 collective bargaining year in Germany was once again characterised by numerous strikes. The WSI recorded 261 industrial disputes in 2025. For the first time, the WSI has also quantitatively analysed the trade unions` industrial action objectives for 2025.

READ THE REPORT
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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