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FEPS Newsletter 25 March 2025 – 🇵🇱 Call to Europe: Peace, Prosperity and Progress!

Peace, housing & democracy’s revitalisation – If you have problems displaying this email, follow this […]
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25/03/2025
Peace, housing & democracy’s revitalisation –

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Ukraine

21-22 MARCH – WARSAW, POLAND

Call to Europe: Peace, Prosperity and Progress – Europe!
 

FEPS’ flagship event Call to Europe, held in the host country of the Presidency of the Council of the EU, brings together policy-makers and experts for meaningful conversations on Europe’s most pressing challenges.
 

Held this time in Poland, under the slogan “Peace, Prosperity, and Progress”, this new edition of Call to Europe hosted conversations with high-level speakers including European and Polish government policymakers on leading topics:
Call to Europe: Peace, Prosperity and Progress – Europe!
    • Peace and prosperity: How can we avoid a “guns vs butter” debate? The EU will have to build up more of its own defence capabilities, but social policy, prosperity, and equality must not suffer.
    • Housing: Social democrats have pushed for housing to be a part of the European mandate. How can Europe deliver on its promise for housing?
    • Building resilient democracies: How can democracy prevail? What can be done to limit the influence of social media oligarchs and ensure governance based on respect for democracy, human rights, and the rule of law?
Europe and the war in Ukraine

BOOK

📕 Europe and the war in Ukraine

From Russian agression to a new Eastern policy

Edited by László Andor and Uwe Optenhögel – In collaboration with FES, Karl-Renner-Institut, Kalevi Sorsa Foundation, Foundation Max van der Stoel, Fondation Jean-Jaurès and Fundacja Amicus Europae
 

Our book ‘Europe and the war in Ukraine’ is now available in Ukrainian! Originally published in English in 2023, it has been updated to reflect recent developments in Ukraine and Europe’s role in the conflict. This book is the first volume of the translation, with the second expected before summer.

This book was translated in collaboration with Academic Studies Press. 
Peace and security

FEPS COMMENTARY

Europe’s defence strategy must be peace-oriented

By László Andor, Beatriz Abellán and David Rinaldi
 

“Europeans should avoid falling into Trump’s narrative, which suggests that the EU has been piggybacking on US security. (…) The  EU  must  have  its  own  long-term approach to security and peace, rather than simply following what Trump and NATO leadership push onto it.” Read more. 
Europe’s defence strategy must be peace-oriented

Photo credits: Shutterstock / T.Vyc
European defence for security and peace

POLICY BRIEF

European defence for security and peace

By Roberto Castaldi – In collaboration with Centro Studi, formazione, comunicazione e progettazione sull’Unione Europea e la global governance (CesUE)
 

Shouldn’t the goal of the European Defence Union be to ensure peace and security?
 

A new approach to the Union’s defence policy in underway, but how can it avoid fragmented national policies? Europe’s security needs a united European defence.

The brief makes bold proposals to strengthen the EU’s foreign and security policy in the framework of current competencies and highlights the need for a strategic shift towards a defence model that combines shared European military capabilities with the ability to mobilise national forces when needed.

PROGRESSIVE POST’S DOSSIER

European defence: between a rock and a hard place
 

EU leaders are reacting hastily to the Trump administration’s decisions regarding the war in Ukraine and transatlantic military cooperation. 
European defence: between a rock and a hard place

Photo credits: Shutterstock / Bumble Dee

But the EU should not jump the gun under pressure as the solution can’t be the mere militarisation of the EU. In this dossier, the Progressive Post addresses the manifold challenges the new security situation has left the EU in:

📚 Read more.
Events

Upcoming events

See full schedule
Day of Progressive Economic Policy 2025
 

📅  9 APRIL

📍BERLIN, GERMANY

Day of Progressive Economic Policy 2025

The new European Commission and the incoming German government are facing unprecedented challenges:  an industry in need of a major upgrade, geopolitical and security threats, and internal threats from the far-right. Yet, outdated economic ideas are resurfacing, endangering workers, well-being and the planet.
 

This annual Congress brings together top-level policymakers and thinkers to shape bold, Progressive policies and investments for Germany and the EU. Read more. 
>

Past events

See all past events

20 MARCH – NEW YORK, USA

Redrawing the lines of foreign policy through feminism 

UN CSW69 Parallel Event  

By FEPS and FES EU Office Brussels, with the collaboration of PEFAL Feminist Foreign Policy Collaborative and the ICRW
 

FEPS was in New York for UN CSW69 for the parallel event “Redrawing the lines of foreign policy through feminism”. The event delved into the progress of Feminist Foreign Policy since the Beijing Declaration and explored how Feminist Foreign Policy can be used as an avenue of resistance despite the severe global rollback on women’s rights.
Redrawing the lines of foreign policy through feminism 

Over three days, the Feminist Foreign Policy Progressive Voices Collective (FFPPVC) also held bilateral meetings, including with Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, UN Women Deputy Executive Director ; Anne Marie Goetz, Professor at the New York University and Yasmine Ergas, Director of the Specialisation on Gender and Public Policy at Columbia University.
News
European roundtable of Progressive think tanks

27 FEBRUARY – BRUSSELS

European roundtable of Progressive think tanks
 

Presidents and representatives from FEPS’ Member Foundations convened for a round-table to address global challenges from the far-right.

Discussions included:

  • Assessing Trump’s agenda and far-right challenges to the European Project
  • Identifying priorities for a European Progressive Agenda
  • Short exchange of views with the Center for American Progress (CAP)
  • Internal discussion about next steps

FEPS COMMENTARY

The European Commission’s Clean Industrial Deal

By David Rinaldi, Chloé Deffet and Anna Kolesnichenko
 

“What VP Teresa Ribera presented is an ambitious plan that makes the case for Europe as a hub for clean manufacturing and investment.” Read more.
FEPS reaction to the European Commission’s Clean Industrial Deal
FEPS reaction to the Roadmap on Women’s Rights

FEPS COMMENTARY

The European Commission’s Roadmap on Women’s Rights

By Laeticia Thissen
 

“At a time when anti-feminist movements are gaining influence, the EU must put all its political weight behind a truly committed Union of Equality because a union that does not defend all women and girls, with particular attention to the most vulnerable, simply cannot become a stronger Union.” Read more.
Podcast

FEPS TALKS PODCAST

Becoming less dependent on Big Tech 

With Cecilia Rikap and Gerard Rinse Oosterwijk
 

🎧  Spotify | Apple Podcast | Website | Youtube
Listen to the podcast

80% of the technology in Europe is provided by foreign actors. What does it mean for Europe if tech oligarchs own the digital infrastructure that provides citizens with information? How do we get out of this situation and start building our capacity?
 

In this episode of FEPS Talks, Cecilia Rikap, Head of Research at the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, explores what a Eurostack aligned with our values, the objectives of the Green Transition, and the rules governing digital services and markets could look like.
Progressive Post
Lessons to learn from a defeat

Photo montage using images from Shutterstock

EUROPEAN PROGRESSIVE OBSERVATORY

Elections in Germany

Lessons to learn from a defeat
 

The elections in Germany on 23 February closed a chapter with the ‘traffic-light’ coalition with a lesson: German Social Democrats must reflect on the reasons for their decade-long decline and a possible strategy that could turn things around.

PROGRESSIVE PAGE

In defence of the rule of law in Italy and in Europe
 

There is no democracy without rule of law and while the popular vote is an inalienable component of democracy, it doesn’t exhaust the democratic systems’ complexity.
In defence of the rule of law in Italy and in Europe

Photo credit: Shutterstock / Oleg Senkov

Yet, the rule of law is under attack in some EU member states, such as in Italy. Read more. 

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Ue, la competitività non è nulla senza i diritti sociali

by La Repubblica 06/05/2026
"In the EU, competitiveness is nothing without social rights" In this article published in La Repubblica, former European Commissioners Nicolas Schmit (FEPS President), László Andor (FEPS SecGen) and Anna Diamantopoúlou (part of FEPS' Bureau) remind European leaders that deregulation will only make Europe poorer and that only social sovereignty will make it stronger

Une révolution civique, pas encore une révolution sociale

by Fondation Jean-Jaurès 06/05/2026
“A civic revolution, not yet a social revolution” Interview with László Andor, FEPS Secretary General, published by Fondation Jean-Jaurès (FR), analysing the electoral defeat of Viktor Orbán, the emergence of a broad opposition movement in Hungary, and the prospects for democratic renewal, EU relations and social change following what he describes as a “civic revolution” that has yet to deliver a social transformation.

Anna Diamantopoúlou, Nicolas Schmit und László Andor über eine Wettbewerbsfähigkeit, die ohne soziale Rechte wertlos ist

by Tageblatt 06/05/2026
"Competitiveness is nothing without social rights" In this article published in Tageblatt, Former European Commissioners Nicolas Schmit (FEPS President), László Andor (FEPS SecGen), and Anna Diamantopoulou (FEPS Bureau member) warn EU leaders that deregulation is a path to economic decline. They argue that Europe’s true strength lies not in cutting rules, but in achieving social sovereignty

Jön a pénz! Magyar Péter beváltja az ígéretét?

by KlikkTV 04/05/2026
“Money is coming! Will Péter Magyar deliver on his promise?” Video Interview published on KlikkTV (HU), featuring László Andor, FEPS Secretary General, discussing EU funds to Hungary, their political conditionality, and the importance of fair distribution, rule of law and social investment within the European Union.