FEPS Newsletter 9 March 2026 – ♀️ International Women’s Day

But also, a social European sovereignty – If you have problems displaying this email, follow […]

09/03/2026
But also, a social European sovereignty –

If you have problems displaying this email, follow this link

Gender equality

No country in the world has reached full legal equality for women and girls. Women and girls still have only 64% of the same legal rights as men. On International Women’s Day, and every day, FEPS reaffirms its commitment to building a just and equal society with gender equality at its centre.

 

A gender backlash is happening across the globe. Politicians and leaders are actively rolling back on women’s rights and years of hard-won progress for power, votes and ideology. This is not business as usual. We can no longer just say in words how important women’s rights are – we need to act. 

 

At FEPS, we work to ensure that at an empirical level, the data, the research and the evidence keep gender equality at the heart of policymaking in Europe. 

FFPPVC commentary on the new EU Gender Equality Strategy 2026-2030

Photo credits: EC – Audiovisual Service

FFPPVC commentary on the new EU Gender Equality Strategy 2026-2030

 

The European Commission presented the new EU Gender Equality Strategy. Amid a global backlash on gender justice and democracy, this sends an important signal and reaffirms the EU’s commitment to gender equality.

These attacks on women’s rights and democratic institutions are coordinated globally and across borders. To counter them, it is vital to ensure coherence with the EU’s external policy on gender justice. Discover how to apply it to the EU level with the full commentary by the Feminist Foreign Policy Progressive Voices Collective, by FEPS with Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) and partners.

FEPS TALKS PODCAST

Muscular masculinity is reinforcing itself in the realm of security

With Lina Gálvez Muñoz and Toni Haastrup

 

🎧  Spotify | Apple Podcast | Website | Youtube

Listen to the podcast

As debates around multilateralism intensify and the global order shifts, rules we thought were here to stay are suddenly under threat. Feminist Foreign Policy can open a pathway to embed gender-responsive, justice-oriented thinking and an accountability framework into international relations, and to rethink what security, cooperation and power should look like.

The Gen Z gender divide in political behaviour

PROJECT LAUNCH – 9 OCTOBER – FEPS HQ

The Gen Z gender divide in political behaviour

 

In October 2025, FEPS launched the project “EqualiZe”, a major new flagship initiative covering five EU countries – Germany, Greece, Poland, Spain and Sweden. 

 

Drawing on cross-country surveys and attitudinal data, the project investigates the drivers of the Gen Z gender divide of political opinion and voting behaviour, and its implications for democracy in the European Union.

 

Check out the preliminary findings of the research project and stay tuned for what’s to come! 

4 MARCH – EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

Growing backlash against women’s rights and democracy

 

FEPS President Nicolas Schmit joined the S&D Group at the European Parliament to discuss how to counter the global backlash against women’s rights and democracy. Watch the full conference!

 
Growing backlash against women’s rights and democracy
Feminist Foreign Policy

POLICY BRIEF SERIES 

🗂️ Feminist Foreign Policy

Series produced in the framework of the FFPPVC, led by FEPS with FES

 

This policy brief series offers insights into how the EU can advance gender-sensitive and sustainable peace agreements in a time of mounting militarisation.  

 

We highlight six urgent priorities: 

European sovereignty

The current geopolitical turmoil is calling for the European Union to reaffirm its ambition and further develop its sovereignty.  

 

European sovereignty must rely on a genuine development model guided by its climate ambition, fuelled by public investments, powered by fair digital innovation and rooted in its social model. With wellbeing as their compass, progressive continue championing policies answering citizens everyday concerns while strengthening Europe in the world.

POLICY BRIEF 

European sovereignty and the social dimension

Reasserting Europe’s social-democratic model in turbulent times

By László Andor and Robin Huguenot-Noël

 

Five years after the adoption of the Action Plan for the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights in Porto, this policy brief argues that European sovereignty cannot be reduced to military or geopolitical autonomy.

 European sovereignty and the social dimension

It demands a social foundation not a US blueprint. Sovereignty must therefore include a renewed social dimension, which means protecting citizens, strengthening solidarity and ensuring democratic control over economic power. 

 

📰 Read the op-ed written by the authors for the digital media Social Europe!

FEPS Secretary General László Andor at the EU Social Rights Forum

4 MARCH – BRUSSELS, BELGIUM

FEPS Secretary General László Andor at the EU Social Rights Forum

 

At the EU Social Rights Forum, FEPS Secretary General László Andor presented the keynote speech on the working group session which discussed the first-ever EU Anti-Poverty StrategyFind out more.

POLICY BRIEF 

Digital sovereignty and a new multilateralism for the AI era

By Francesca Bria – In collaboration with FES, Fondation Jean-Jaurès, Avanza, Fundación Pablo Iglesias, Karl-Renner-Institut and Olof Palme International Center

 

Artificial intelligence is transforming not only economies but the very nature of global power, reshaping sovereignty itself in the digital age. This policy brief examines how control over digital infrastructures – chips, cloud computing, data networks and algorithmic systems – has become the new determinant of geopolitical influence.

Digital sovereignty and a new multilateralism for the AI era
Events

Upcoming events

See full schedule

Crash! Boom! Bubble!
 

📅  11 MARCH 

📍 HELSINKI, FINLAND

💻 HYBRID

Crash! Boom! Bubble!
The economics of AI and the Nordic welfare state

 

Will AI bring a new surge in productivity or is it merely a false promise? What role should AI play in the economy of the future? 

 

Within the FEPS-Nordic Digital Programme, a public discussion on this topic will take place at the Think Corner Stage of the University of Helsinki. Follow it online!

Place-based industrial policy in Europe
 

📅  19 MARCH

📍 FEPS HQ

Place-based industrial policy in Europe

 

This event will discuss how regional and local political processes determine the shape of industrial policy and how social democrats can better develop, implement and manage the politics of industrial policy in critical sectors and regions. 

 

It will also discuss the upcoming policy study of the same name. Register here.

Progressive Post

DOSSIER

The fight against poverty is a fight for human rights

 

Will the EU eradicate poverty? Poverty is about people’s rights and the upcoming anti-poverty strategy must tackle it as more than an economic issue.

The fight against poverty is a fight for human rights

Photo credits: Shutterstock / Emvat Mosakovskis

 

Was this email forwarded to you?

Copyright © 2026 FEPS Europe, All rights reserved.

You are receiving this email because you participated in one of FEPS’ events and/or have registered for FEPS’ newsletter.

If you wish not to receive FEPS’ communications anymore, please click here: unsubscribe now

 

Foundation for European Progressive Studies
Avenue des Arts, 46 – 1000 Bruxelles

+32 223 46 900 – info@feps-europe.eu

Find all related Progressive Post
Progressive Post
05/03/2026

Poverty is not a fatality

In 2024, more than 93 million Europeans, representing 21 per cent of the EU-population have […]
05/03/2026

Poverty is the result of political choices

On 12 February, the European Parliament voted on the report of the parliament’s committee on […]
Find all related Magazine
Magazine
  • cover book

    # Issue 29 Progressive Post

# Issue 29

From the war in Ukraine to the devastation of Gaza since 2023, the words ‘war’ […]
  • cover book

    # Issue 28 Progressive Post

# Issue 28

European Social Democracy at historical crossroads
  • cover book

    #Issue 27 Progressive Post

#Issue 27

The EU in uncharted waters
Find all related publications
Publications
05/03/2026

Digital sovereignty and a new multilateralism for the AI era

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming not only economies but the very nature of global power, […]
03/03/2026

Progressive pathways for a resilient (re)construction of Ukraine: Towards a new social contract

This policy study places labour at the centre of reconstruction planning for Ukraine as the […]
03/03/2026

European sovereignty and the social dimension

Reasserting Europe’s social-democratic model in turbulent times
29/01/2026

Progressive Yearbook 2026

In an eerie manner, 2025 resembled the ‘time of monsters’, which, according to the great […]
Find all related news
News
05/03/2026

FFPPVC commentary on the new EU Gender Equality Strategy 2026-2030

Commentary by the Feminist Foreign Policy Progressive Voices Collective (FFPPVC)
03/03/2026

Wag the dog?

FEPS commentary on the US-Israel attack on Iran
03/03/2026

Closing ceremony of the Progressive Ukraine programme

The graduation ceremony completed the programme which was part of the Open Progressive University (OPU).
29/01/2026

Maria João Rodrigues departs from FEPS Presidency, transitions to Nicolas Schmit

After completing eight years in the role, Maria Joâo Rodrigues has departed the role of […]
Find all related in the media
In the media

Africa and Europe Must Rethink Clean Energy Partnership After COP30 Setback

by News Ghana 27/02/2026
Read this article from News Ghana on the highlights of FEPS' event "Governing the global just transition", where diverse stakeholders discussed the EU's role in supporting a just transition from fossil fuels to clean energy in Africa

EUfória podcast Andor Lászlóval: Mire képes az EU saját erejéből és mennyire van kiszolgáltatva a világnak?

by EUrologus 26/02/2026
Listen to the EUfória podcast with László Andor, Secretary General of FEPS, on what the EU can achieve on its own, how to tackle its competitiveness challenge and how the Hungarian government’s stance shapes the EU’s image.

Can the EU ever become a superpower?

by Euronews 20/02/2026
In this episode of the podcast Brussels, My Love, FEPS President Nicolas Schmit discusses the informal meeting of the Antwerp European Industrial Summit and the Munich Security Council.

España los forma, Europa los contrata: así es el mapa de la nueva fuga de cerebros

by El Confidencial 10/02/2026
Spain trains them, Europe hires them: the map of the new brain drain: László Andor, FEPS Secretary-General, discusses the 'brain drain' as a result of the EU’s single market and highlights the need for a fairer mobility and retention strategy across the EU.