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The Forty-Year Gap Between Europe’s Equality Law And Its Practice

Joanna Demopoulou

European law forces 40 per cent gender balance on listed boardrooms but exempts the cabinets that actually wield public power.

Businessman standing at a door with European Union flags, symbolising economic choices.

Deregulation Will Make Europe Poorer, Not Stronger

Nicolas Schmit, László Andor and Anna Diamantopoulou

Three former European Commissioners warn that scrapping social protections in pursuit of competitiveness will leave the Union weaker, not stronger.

Stylized illustration of a woman's face with cityscape and financial symbols.

Declining Dollar Dominance: Potential Euro Gains

Silke Tober and Thomas Theobald

Without large-scale joint debt and deeper safe-asset markets, the euro cannot capitalise on Trump's assault on dollar credibility.

Illustration of European democracy leaders with EU flag and cityscape background.

May 8 Belongs in the Calendar of Every European Democracy

Ellen de Soete and Ludovic Voet

As eyewitnesses fade and the far right reframes liberation as defeat, EU institutions must answer with policy.

Stylized illustration of a man with intense expression and lightning behind him.

Madrid Has the Cure for Trump-Era Energy Shocks

Peter Bofinger

Spain's heretical VAT cut tames inflation—a model for Europe as Trump's tariffs and Middle East shocks bite.

Futuristic illustration of a person with a brain and AI technology interfaces.

AI Productivity Growth Won’t Match the Computer Revolution

Carl Benedikt Frey

AI Productivity growth will underwhelm, not because the technology is weak, but because it creates a bottleneck that earlier digital tools largely avoided.

Urban cityscape with sun, water, and industrial elements for Social Europe.

A New Economics for the 21st Century

Mariana Mazzucato and Lara Merling

By coming out in favor of industrial policy after many decades of advising against government intervention in the economy, the World Bank has taken an important step.

Silhouette of a woman's profile with church and cathedral elements.

MAGA Forges Christianity Into a Weapon of War

Robert Misik

From Hegseth's crusader tattoos to Thiel's apocalyptic sermons, MAGA is fusing Christianity with raw political power.

Artistic portrait of Donald Trump with a serious expression.

Trump’s Tragedy of Errors

Joseph Stiglitz

Trump's unchecked Iran war is wrecking supply chains, reigniting inflation, and deepening a global affordability crisis.

Person standing among numerous packed suitcases with Chinese flags.

China’s Overcapacity Problem Is Europe’s Problem Too — But Not in the Way You Might Think

Bernhard Tröster, Simela Papatheophilou and Werner Raza

As Beijing acknowledges its own overcapacity problem, new research reveals a more complex and more enduring threat to European manufacturing.

Stylized digital art of a man reading at a desk with swirling background.

Hungary After Orbán: Why Tisza’s “New Hungary” May Leave Workers Behind

Erdost Akin

Hungary's new government promises to restore rule of law — but not labour rights.

European Union flag with a man reading a newspaper amidst clouds and scrolls.

Europe’s Migration Promises Are Building A Dangerous Expectation Trap

Arjen Leerkes, Maurizio Ambrosini and Sandra Lavenex

Stricter return rules and border procedures sell reassurance to voters, but the evidence suggests Europe cannot deliver what politicians promise.

Futuristic scene of AI impacting European education and job markets.

Europe’s Graduate Glut Collides With The AI Disruption

Odysseas Konstantinakos and Luca Cigna

Record applications to the EU civil service reveal saturated labour markets, a hollowed-out state and a generation exposed to automation.

European Union flag over Budapest with Hungarian Parliament in the foreground.

Europe Chose Greek Deficits Over Hungarian Democracy

Angelos Chryssogelos

In April 2010, the EU betrayed Greece and enabled Orbán — and has yet to reckon with either.

Panoramic view of Budapest with Parliament and Chain Bridge over Danube.

Hungary’s Long Road From Electoral Autocracy to Plural Democracy

Stephen Pogány

Péter Magyar's election victory gives Hungary its best chance in a generation to break with a centuries-long pattern of authoritarian rule.

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Progressive Thinking on the Big Issues of Our Time

Read by policymakers, academics and journalists in 100+ countries.

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S&D conference The Middle East at crossroads: A progressive vision, 9 September 2026, European Parliament, Brussels

S&D conference “The Middle East at crossroads: A progressive vision”

The S&D Group is pleased to invite you to our conference “The Middle East at crossroads: A progressive vision” on Wednesday, 9 September, from 14:30 to 18:30, in the European Parliament in Brussels as well as online, where we will discuss the geopolitical changes taking place in the Middle East.

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Cover of the ETUI and OSE book Social policy in the European Union: state of play 2025.

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

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EurofoundTalks podcast with Mary McCaughey and Eszter Sandor: Is financial resilience and trust in Europe faltering?

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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Cover of The Progressive Post issue 31, Summer 2026: The Mediterranean, a crowded sea.

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 blog series “Climate Transition: Socially Just and Fair”: How the climate crisis and global migration are linked, by Neva Löw and Maximilian Pichl

How the climate crisis and global migration are linked

The climate crisis and global migration are closely linked. Emancipatory forces must demand and defend the right to be able to leave, but not to have to leave. This means defending and expanding asylum rights.

READ HERE

FES Advertisement

Cover of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung analysis The Capability State: A Progressive Vision for the 21st Century by Henning Meyer.

“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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