A free and democratic Europe: Countering far-right populism

The S&D Group hosted a major youth event on 19 and 20 March at the European Parliament in Brussels. The two-day event brought together over 500 young Socialists and Social Democrats from all over the European Union, to discuss and debate the issues that concern them the most. 

They took part in 12 workshops on topical themes, which was organised in cooperation with FEPS, the Party of European Socialists, the PES Group in the Committee in the Regions and the Young European Socialists. 

On Wednesday 20 March, the young activists took part in panel debates in a public plenary session at the European Parliament Hemicycle with leading figures in the European Socialist and Social Democrat family. Watch the live streaming!

What was FEPS workshop ‘A free and democratic Europe: Countering far-right populism‘ about?

Far-right parties continue to gain ground in Europe in the run-up to the European elections. They threaten the very foundations of democracy and the fundamental social democratic values of social justice and solidarity.

In this workshop, participants learned more about the threat posed by right-wing populist forces in Europe and possible strategies to counter them.

After a briefing on this topic, participants worked with experts from politics, civil society and academia to identify the key elements of an effective counter-narrative against far-right forces, which will also help motivate young people to cast their vote in the upcoming election.

The outcome of this workshop was a two-minute message crafted by the participants themselves, which they presented to the plenary of S&D leaders at the end of the two-day event.

This workshop took place at FEPS’ headquarters.

Background material

• FEPS Policy Brief ‘The transformation of the mainstream right in Western Europe‘, on the issue of mainstream-right parties helping to normalize far-right narratives and parties. More on the far-right and democratic resilience here.

• FEPS’ work on youth: Builders of Progress

Builders of Progress is a FEPS-led series of research outputs that explore the key concerns and aspirations of young Europeans. It examines their opinions on a wide range of social issues, including (in)equality, climate change, political participation and the European Union.

In the tradition of FEPS’s previous Millennial Dialogue project, a major study is published every four years in which European youth are surveyed across many European countries. You can find the 2022 Builders of Progress survey here.

Between these major outputs, we address important aspects highlighted in the surveys that deserve more attention and a more nuanced, often qualitative, analysis. Our most recent publication is part of such a deep dive, investigating the relationship of disadvantaged young people with democracy in five countries, namely, Ireland, Hungary, France, Poland, and Spain. Find it here.

For more information regarding this event, please contact Matteo Dressler, Policy Analyst on Democracy and Participation (matteo.dressler@feps-europe.eu)