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Our annual tradition is back! Join us this week at our annual reception and Progressive Yearbook launch to look back on the year that passed so we can look forward to the year ahead. In the following days, we will also look at taxation. As Oxfam’s recently released annual report shows, inequality is worse than ever, and the ultra-rich have become even richer while the rest have become poorer. We need to ensure that workers and the middle class are not compensating for the super-rich by being able to manipulate tax systems!

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Past events

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Ahead of the start of the EU long-term budget (MFF) negotiations, experts from across the EU, at federal and municipal levels, convened to explore the pathways to gender-equitable fiscal and budgetary policies. Among them was Professor Diane Elson, who explained that most governments approach gender budgeting too narrowly: “They focus only on expenditures explicitly targeted to women, and they don’t look at taxation and macroeconomics.” She also highlighted the broader societal and economic benefits of investing in social infrastructure to advance equity.

FEPS also co-hosted a panel discussion which demonstrated how local governments can lead in implementing gender-sensitive policies. 

You can also check out the highlights of the conference!

Launched at FEPS HQ and amongst MEPs and researchers at the European Parliament, the new policy study ‘Time to build a European ecosystem’ includes critical recommendations for the EU’s digital policy aimed at the new European Commission.

The EU must resist pressure from Big Tech firms and enforce digital regulations passed to protect citizens and society. We must build capacity by investing in Digital Public Infrastructure and an industrial policy that will support European initiatives in digital transformation.

The courses will focus on the far-reaching impacts of Russia’s war of aggression, the reconstruction of Ukraine and its journey towards EU membership. 

The Open Progressive University is a first-of-a-kind e-learning platform established by FEPS to empower the progressive movement in Europe by broadening access to expert knowledge.

Ahead of Trump’s inauguration, Professor Jonathan Portes from King’s College, London, discussed with FEPS Secretary General László Andor the shared concerns between the EU and the UK, including economic competitiveness.

Despite the UK’s historically assumed special relationship with the US, it is now a target for the new trade wars promised by Trump – another factor pushing the EU and UK together into a common effort to uphold multilateralism and a relatively open international trade system.

If only we knew whether it applies to 2024 which ended with the shift to full Trumpism in the US, or to the year ahead. Read more.

Photo credits: Photomontage using images from Shutterstock (Kovop & Anna Moneymaker)

In which directions will Donald Tusk and his team be steering the Union? Read more.

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

+32 223 46 900 – info@feps-europe.eu