Skip to content

Social Europe

  • eBooks
  • Newsletter
  • Membership
  • Advertisements

Social Rights: The View from the Council of Europe

Alain Berset and Robin Wilson

During the High-level Conference on Social Rights this month in Chișinău, Alain Berset, secretary general of the Council of Europe, gave an exclusive interview to Social Europe.

Growth Without Resilience: Europe’s Hidden Social Fracture

Eszter Sandor

A recent EU survey exposes the chasm between headline economic data and the financial reality confronting households across Europe.

The Vulnerability of Trump’s Personality Cult

Jan-Werner Müller

Trump's personality cult follows a well-worn historical playbook — but his pathological narcissism ensures he cannot deploy it effectively.

Social Rights: The Idea Whose Time Has Come?

Robin Wilson

A remarkable consensus on social rights is emerging as Europe's answer to inequality, democratic backsliding and geopolitical upheaval.

Proportional Representation Is Breaking Dutch Democracy

Tarunabh Khaitan and Mike Winterwerp

As coalition formation grows ever more tortuous, the Netherlands must confront whether proportional representation itself is the problem.

Europe’s Duty-Free Access Bankrolls Myanmar’s Military Repression

Khaing Zar Aung and Atle Høie

Five years after the coup, foreign brands and the EU's trade preferences continue to generate hard currency for a military regime waging war on its own people.

Armed Conflict or Mutual Survival?

Richard Wilkinson, Roberto De Vogli and Kate Pickett

Militarism and ecological collapse are not separate emergencies — they are the same emergency, feeding each other in a spiral humanity cannot afford to ignore.

Washington’s Russia U-Turn Exposes the Real Logic of Sanctions

Ilan Kapoor

The easing of Russian oil restrictions amid the Iran crisis reveals sanctions as tools of power, not justice.

Jürgen Habermas Shaped the Postwar Order — His Death Must Not Mark Its End

Peter Verovšek

The greatest democratic theorist of the postwar era leaves behind a world dismantling everything he defended.

Let’s Admit It. Americans Are Not Like Us

Philip Stephens

The Atlantic alliance is over. The best to hope for is an entente recognising Europe and the US still have shared interests.

Beyond Affordability: Why an Economy Built Only for Consumers Fails Everyone

Dani Rodrik

Progressive politics has rediscovered affordability, but an economic agenda that ignores the dignity and quality of work is only half a strategy.

Liberal Democracy Depends on Social Rights

Aoife Nolan

Democratic backsliding and rising social insecurity have gone hand in hand.

Iran May Become the Next Failed State — and Europe Will Pay the Price

Guillaume Duval

The US-Israeli assault on Iran was launched mid-negotiation, without UN backing, making it more dangerous to international law than Iraq.

Extreme Inequality Created the World Jeffrey Epstein Exploited

Kate Pickett

The Epstein revelations are symptoms of a deeper crisis: a political economy that rewards extraction over creation and concentrates power in ever fewer hands.

Europe’s Centre-Left Chose Caution Over Conviction and Now Faces Collapse

Rodrigo Vaz

Bold choices, not better messaging, are the only way to save Europe's centre-left from electoral extinction.

Prev Next
S&D Group in the European Parliament 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 PAPER
ETUI Advertisement

A more strategic Europe? Risks and opportunities for the world of work

Europe’s ambition to achieve strategic autonomy is at risk of being undermined from within, according to the annual flagship report by the ETUI and the ETUC. Despite signs of macroeconomic resilience, weakening investment, stalled decarbonisation and growing labour market fragilities are eroding the very foundations on which Europe’s power depends. Once again, the Benchmarking Working Europe 2026 report stands out as an invaluable resource, providing a comprehensive set of indicators illustrated through more than 60 graphs and tables, with analysis from ETUI researchers.

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
FEPS Advertisement

The Spring issue of The Progressive Post is out!

In geopolitics, 2026 is challenging our certainties: from the abduction of the Venezuelan president, over the open US threats to 'take' Greenland, to the US-Israeli war on Iran. This issue tries to determine what comes next, debating power politics in the 21st century. We also examine the European Commission's first Anti-Poverty Strategy as well as the EU's need for proactive adaptation measures, exploring the legislation, resources and mechanisms to climate-proof our future.

READ THE MAGAZINE
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

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
  • eBooks
  • Newsletter
  • Membership
  • Advertisements