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Don’t defund the BBC

Mariana Mazzucato

Rather than public institutions being limited to fixing market failures, organisations such as the BBC are also market shapers.

Inequalities and democratic corrosion

Piergiuseppe Fortunato

The right question to ask is not if inequality threatens democracy but which inequalities matter.

Making EU regulation better for all

Isabelle Schömann

The stigma attached to democratic EU regulation by the ‘one in, one out’ approach must be replaced by a positive commitment to the common good.

Leaving behind the EU’s deadly addiction to deregulation

Patrick ten Brink

Better regulation is benevolent and participatory, cognisant of complexity and future-oriented. Deregulation it is not.

Aligning the social pillar with human rights

Birgit Van Hout

The Action Plan of the European Pillar of Social Rights could lead to a profound shift in the enjoyment of human rights in the EU.

The four ‘I’s of a new socio-ecological contract

Philippe Pochet

A ‘socio-ecological contract’ has emerged as a way to conceive the transitions needed to steer out of today’s crises to safer harbour. What does it entail?

Europe could make good use of a new SDR allocation

Jayati Ghosh

Jayati Ghosh begins a new Social Europe column by pricking Europe’s conscience on its pandemic-related responsibilities towards the developing world.

Human-rights due diligence and Myanmar

Frank Hoffer

Myanmar is a test case for engaged global companies’ commitments to due diligence. They must act to ensure suppression does not prevail.

Covid-19: a tale of two service sectors

John Hurley

If the 2008 crash brought on a ‘mancession’ of lost jobs, the sectors most hit by the pandemic employ mainly low-paid women workers.

UK gig drivers recognised as workers—what next?

Jill Toh

The UK’s highest court has delivered another benchmark judgment on gig workers. But the battle is not over.

EU credibility as a people’s union rests on the social pillar

Liina Carr

Buffeted by the pandemic and by populism, the EU needs the European Pillar of Social Rights to become a solid anchor of security for all.

Vaccine nationalism won’t defeat the pandemic

Sharan Burrow

International co-operation is vital to make vaccination, as a public good, available to all.

Can we change the climate on climate change?

Karin Pettersson

Karin Pettersson is impressed by a fictional account of the existential challenge humanity faces.

Managing the unavoidable impact of climate change

Ludovic Voet

While doing all it can to arrest climate change, the EU must place workers and their concerns at the heart of its adaptation strategy.

Bearing the brunt: the impact of Covid-19 on women

Sofia Fernandes and Klervi Kerneïs

The pandemic has proved not to be an equal-opportunity destroyer of economic and social wellbeing.

Germany adds to recognition of platform workers

Roman Kormann

The Federal Labour Court ruled late last year that a crowdworker was indeed an employee, despite the platform’s contrary claim.

Fewer Italians than Swedes hold anti-feminist views

Tatev Hovhannisyan

New research from anti-extremism charities reveals ‘unexpected patterns’ of opinions towards feminism across Europe.

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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.

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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.

READ THE BOOK
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.

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT
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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