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International Law’s Crisis of Faith: Double Standards from North to South

Lina Lorenzoni-Escobar and Kevin Crow

From Venezuela to Gaza, the selective application of international law by powerful states and their critics alike is draining the post-1945 order of its last reserves of legitimacy.

Spain and Norway Expose the Bankruptcy of Europe’s Iran Response

Gábor Scheiring

Europe's response to the US-Israeli strikes on Iran exposes a continent locked in dependency and struggling to find its voice.

Pensions, Housing, Jobs: One Fund to Fix Them All

Frank Hoffer

A compulsory second-tier pension fund invested exclusively in social housing would tame rents, boost employment, and deliver stable retirement income.

Populism’s Real Target in Europe Is Not the Elite — It Is the Worker

Francesco Seghezzi

Populist leaders promise to empower “the people” but systematically sideline the institutions through which workers actually exercise power.

The Iran War Has Nothing to Do with Nuclear Weapons

Timothy Snyder

The assault on Iran defies every stated justification; the real motives point to democratic backsliding and personal enrichment.

Iran Crisis Proves Europe Cannot Delay Its Industrial Transformation

Judith Kirton-Darling

The US–Israeli strikes on Iran lay bare every fault line in Europe's energy dependence, industrial fragility, and strategic exposure — and demand an immediate policy response.

European Sovereignty Demands a Social Foundation, Not a US Blueprint

László Andor and Robin Hugenot-Noël

A 'Draghi light' agenda of deregulation risks social repression — but a bolder path rooted in Europe's social democratic tradition offers a credible alternative.

Disorientation Is the Point: How Permanent Unpredictability Broke Democratic Politics

Baris Cayli Messina

Chronic uncertainty does not mobilise democratic publics — it paralyses them, and that paralysis is itself a tool of power.

The War on Iran Has Begun — Here Are Ten Issues That Will Shape What Comes Next

Guillaume Duval

The American-Israeli assault has decapitated Iran's regime, but the cascade of geopolitical consequences threatens to destabilise the entire global order.

Aid Is Not Development: We Need a Different Conversation

Benny Dembitzer

Despite trillions spent over decades, more people than ever face starvation—because aid was never designed to end poverty.

Fiscal Consolidation Costs Europe Jobs and Deepens Inequality

Philipp Heimberger and Anna Matzner

New research reveals that EU fiscal tightening reduces output, raises unemployment, and widens income gaps — especially during recessions.

The Locked-Out Generation: Europe’s Housing Market Is Failing Its Young

Marie Hyland

Across the continent, soaring prices and stagnant supply have turned homeownership into a mirage for many young Europeans

Trump The Rebel King

Slavoj Žižek

Donald Trump has taken the exercise of power to its most absurd extreme. He rules a state that he seeks to destroy.

How Orbán’s Fidesz Instrumentalises Hungary’s Roma as an Electoral Prop

Zsuzsanna Árendás and Vera Messing

A senior minister's vulgar remark about Roma "cleaning train toilets" was no gaffe — it was a campaign programme in miniature.

Why a Club of Six Nations Is Both Europe’s Best Hope and Its Greatest Risk

Guillaume Duval

A German proposal to unite the EU's six largest countries confronts a Union paralysed by the dominance of its smallest members.

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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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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.

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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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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.

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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.

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT

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