FEPS Newsletter 13 Oct 2023 – ♀️Feminist Foreign Policy in action!

📅 FEPS Newsletter: ♀️Feminist Foreign Policy in action! Share Tweet Share Share Foreign Feminist Policy, […]

13/10/2023
📅 FEPS Newsletter: ♀️Feminist Foreign Policy in action!
Foreign Feminist Policy, books on foresight, health union and migration, and much more
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Upcoming Events
Feminist Foreign Policy has gained significant ground in policy discourse over the past years, with many countries proclaiming a feminist approach to their external actions. But what exactly does a feminist foreign policy entail? Much more than a mere rhetorical gesture, this policy approach has demonstrated significant potential for reducing global inequalities.

Although several EU Member states have adopted it,
the EU still needs a more ambitious approach to transform its foreign policy’s concept and practice substantially.

In a few days, in the context of the European Gender Equality Week, we will host a high-level full-day conference on the topic, and launch the Feminist Foreign Policy Progressive Voices Collective. Find out more about it here!
UPCOMING EVENT
Walking the talk: Feminist Foreign Policy in action

23 October – Brussels
This conference, co-organised with Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) office in Brussels, will launch the Feminist Foreign Policy Progressive Voices Collective to develop policy recommendations for a European Feminist Foreign Policy (FFP).
Join us to explore the necessity of FFP, its challenges and strengths, and the gender bias within connected issues such as trade policy with renowned experts such as Svenja Schulze, Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany; Ann Linde, Former Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs; Benedicta Lasi, Secretary General at Socialist International; Heléne Fritzon, MEP and Vice President of the S&D Group; Inma Rodríguez-Piñero, MEP S&D Group; Catherine West, MP and Shadow Foreign Minister for Asia and the Pacific, UK; Arancha González Layla, Former Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs; and many others.

ℹ️ The event won’t be live-streamed, so register if you don’t want to miss it!
This event is featured in the EP Gender Equality Week agenda.
On October 23-24, FEPS and FES, supported by an active network of dedicated partners and experts, are launching a project that will question traditional approaches to foreign policy to enable an alternative account of foreign relations from the standpoint of the most disadvantaged.
We will explore the transformative potential and identify existing challenges for a “European feminist policy”. The project aims to advance concrete policy recommendations and will build on a multistakeholder feminist foreign policy community, which will gather feminist policy experts. Read more.
A few months ago, the centre-left German government announced the guidelines for pursuing its new feminist foreign policy. But what exactly does it entail? What potential does it offer? What are the challenges ahead?
In this dossier, the Progressive Post explores the concept of feminist foreign policy – the contours of which still need to be fully outlined:
Photo credits: NATO
This report by FEPS Policy Analysts published at GWL voices provides policy recommendations for a more critical, ambitious, and progressive European Feminist Foreign Policy. Read more.
Global trends, Russian aggression and the risk of a regressive world
By Giovanni Grevi, Daniela Schwarzer, Andriy Korniychuk, Thijs Van de Graaf, Annalisa Prizzon and more

This book “provides a timely and essential read for those seeking to understand and shape the path ahead at a critical juncture in European integration”, in the words of Enrico Letta. For Arancha González Laya, it is “a unique tool for thinking about how Europe can deploy its leadership in the face of mounting geopolitical headwinds”.
Amidst the backdrop of a shifting geostrategic environment, this book makes a strong case for foresight as an indispensable element of European policymaking.

While we can’t predict the future, we must anticipate and prepare for the (un)certain. Read more.
Are you passionate about communication, media, and promoting impactful content? FEPS is looking for a dynamic individual to join our team in Brussels.

Read the vacancy notice and apply before 6 November!
We need 1 million signatures! Our goal is to tax great wealth to finance the ecological and social transition. We need 1 million signatures from citizens across the EU so that the European Commission will have no choice but to propose legislation on the issue.
FEPS actively supports this initiative. László Andor, FEPS Secretary General, was among its initiators, along with prominent policymakers, academics and activists in the field of social justice and economic democracy.
FEPS and EIHSD will launch a book on the conceptualisation of a European Health Union. The research explores the origins and legal background of the concept of a EU Health Union.
Then, it recognises the strengthening of relations between European members, carried out by progressive decision-makers, and looks into the strong backing for investment in health.

While the path towards a Union will be challenging, we look into the most promising avenues of cooperation for the health and well-being of European citizens.

At this event, we delved into the EU’s current approach to asylum and migration, explored the reasons behind its shortcomings, and proposed a more humane approach.
It also marked the official launch of the bookTowards a humane refugee policy in the EU‘. We had the opportunity to discuss it with its author Gesine Schwan, member of the SPD party and academic, as well as with experts: Udo Bullmann, S&D Group MEP; Helena Hahn, Policy Analyst at European Policy Centre; Jasmijn Slootjes, Associate Director at MPI Europe, and Peter Bosch, Senior Associate Fellow at Egmont Institute. Read more.
10 October – Online
Is the EU Care Strategy equipped to effectively address the pressing care challenges we currently face? What concrete solutions does it provide to tackle these issues?
The last policy lunch of the Care4Care series placed a spotlight on a relatively underexplored domain of EU action: the need to ensure affordable, high-quality long-term care. In today’s world, increased life expectancy does not automatically equate to an improved quality of life. We are witnessing a much broader care revolution, and the EU Care Strategy must adapt to these changes. Read our analysis and policy recommendations in our policy study European Care Strategy‘. Read more.
11 October – Brussels
This edition of the Silver Rose Awards celebrated those who work actively towards a just transition towards carbon-neutrality. Congratulations to Justiça Ambiental, an organisation dedicated to the inspiring fight for a fossil fuel-free world, and to Margot Wallström, Former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden and current chairperson of Olof Palme International Center, for her work in implementing feminist foreign policy and her fight for women’s right.
PAST MEETING
Strategic openness? Towards an inclusive implementation of Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism
12 October – Expert meeting
The use of CBAM to price carbon emissions into goods imported to the EU from non-EU countries is intended to counteract ‘carbon leakage’, i.e. the risk of carbon-intensive industries relocating to countries with less strict climate policies and regulations.
However, this recently approved trade instrument suffers from several drawbacks that might impede its successful implementation and create market distortions. This was the main focus of our latest seminar on the topic. More in this article published at Encompass.
10 October – Liverpool, UK
In the fringe of this pre-election congress, FEPS, Fabian Society, and FES organised a breakfast meeting to discuss the future relations between the UK and EU.
Read our policy study which offers recommendations to the Labour Party and social democratic movements around Europe on the future of work.
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