Call for Abstracts: Policy Briefs “From Deficit to Democracy? Challenges and Progressive Responses after One Year of von der Leyen II”

Policy brief series on the state of democracy under the current EU Commission
Publication date: starting November/December 2025
Application Deadline: Monday, 14 July 2025, 9:00 a.m. CEST
Start Date: Mid-July 2025
Duration: Writing period: 3 months (mid-July to mid-October 2025)
Revisions/copy-editing: 1-2 months (mid-October to December 2025)
Eligibility: Scholars, policy experts, and political practitioners with expertise in, respectively,
1. EU institutions, democratic design or
2. EU industrial policy, economic governance or
3. EU budget/MFF, economic governance or
4. EU militarisation, security and defence policy.
Deliverables: Policy brief of around 3,600 words according to guidelines (cf. annex); 1-2 interim
presentations to RLS Brussels; TBC: presentation(s) to policy-makers and stakeholders; short
text modules for social media use (quotes, summary tweets, etc.)

About Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung
The Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung (RLS) is a German political foundation affiliated with Die Linke, promoting democratic socialism through education and critical engagement. Since 1990, it has advanced internationalist, anti-capitalist, and emancipatory ideals rooted in the workers’, women’s, anti-fascist, and anti-racist movements. RLS works globally to foster reflection, analysis, and alternatives for just and transformative social change.

Background & Objectives
As the von der Leyen II Commission approaches its one-year mark, the European Union finds itself navigating an increasingly unstable global and domestic landscape. The Commission’s second mandate began under the shadow of ongoing geopolitical upheaval: Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine continues with no end in sight, the return of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency has brought renewed unpredictability to transatlantic relations, and rising global tensions are reshaping industrial, defence, trade, energy, and AI strategies, among others.
Internally, the Commission’s legitimacy is already in question. It was confirmed by only a narrow 51% majority in the most right-wing European Parliament to date – a historically low threshold that reflects broader shifts in the EU’s political centre of gravity. From the outset, this fragile democratic mandate has been reflected in the EU’s political agenda. The consolidation of legislative power in omnibus packages, the marginalisation of parliamentary scrutiny, and the sidelining of social and ecological ambitions signal a deepening democratic erosion at the EU level.
A central mechanism of this erosion is the growing consolidation of technocratic governance – a mode of rule that sidelines democratic deliberation in favour of executive control, expert authority, and market-based rationality. This dynamic plays out unevenly across EU policymaking:
1. procedurally, through institutional workarounds such as omnibus legislation and
regulatory “special regimes” that weaken parliamentary input;
2. in industrial policy, through a competitiveness agenda that treats economic
transformation as a technical matter of corporate “de-risking”;
3. in EU budgeting, through closed Council negotiations that limit democratic oversight
and prioritise fiscal restraint;
4. and in defence policy, through security framings that entrench militarisation as
technocratic necessity and exclude civilian or pacifist alternatives.

Aim of the Series
This series of policy papers will assess the democratic implications of the von der Leyen II Commission’s first year in office. It will offer a critical, left-wing lens on the EU’s institutional and policy trajectories, highlighting areas where democratic processes are weakening and where technocratic and executive powers are expanding. Beyond analysis and critique, the series is committed to offering concrete, progressive policy proposals firmly rooted in an emancipatory perspective.

We are seeking contributions for four papers:

1. Framing Paper and Institutional Engineering:
The von der Leyen II Commission has deepened existing trends toward technocratic consolidation and executive dominance within the EU’s institutional architecture. Omnibus legislative packages, the proposed 28th regime, and the Competitiveness Agenda are reshaping procedural norms – concentrating agenda-setting power in the Commission, sidelining national and European parliaments, and narrowing space for democratic deliberation. These developments have further insulated key policy decisions from social and political contestation, entrenching market logics and weakening mechanisms of transparency and accountability.
We invite proposals that critically assess how evolving procedural reform contributes to the erosion of democratic control and reinforce executive-led governance within the EU. Contributions should examine the institutional drivers and political consequences of these shifts and offer left alternatives that expand democratic participation and redistribute institutional power – such as strengthened parliamentary oversight, procedural transparency participatory rule-making, and mechanisms that allow greater civil society and social movement influence over EU policy-making.

2. Industrial Deal and Economic Governance:
The “Industrial Deal” promotes accelerated reindustrialisation, but with minimal public debate and ambiguous implications for labour and regional equity. The Commission’s industrial strategy under the Competitiveness Agenda is driving a transformation in EU economic governance that sidelines democratic oversight and entrenches corporate power. Framed through a logic of “de-risking,” the strategy privileges private investment and market coordination over public planning, social accountability, and workplace democracy. This shift marginalizes public institutions in steering industrial transformation, increasingly relies on market mechanisms to address systemic crises, and contributes to the erosion of democratic rights in the workplace.
We welcome proposals that assess the implications of these shifts for class power, social justice, and ecological transition. In particular, we encourage contributions that propose emancipatory alternatives that expand democratic control over industrial policy, such as democratic economic planning, worker co-management, green industrial strategies anchored in public ownership, and models of industrial transformation based on social conditionality and participatory governance.

3. Multiannual Financial Framework:
The EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), while a structural instrument of the EU, not a new initiative of the Commission, is increasingly shaped by the Commission’s executive priorities, with recent revisions reinforcing opaque negotiations and governance logics that sideline democratic input and public scrutiny. Despite its modest size, the EU budget lies at the heart of the European Commission’s power and sets the political direction for future policies and investments – public and private. The MFF shapes decisions on critical policy areas, such as the energy transition, industrial decarbonisation, agriculture, health, education, and international cooperation – all of which require substantial public funding. Yet MFF negotiations are concentrated in the European Council’s closed-door bargaining, sidelining parliamentary scrutiny and civil society participation. This institutional imbalance locks in priorities shaped by fiscal restraint and private-sector competitiveness, while marginalising social and environmental goals.
We welcome proposals that critically assess the MFF as a site of technocratic consolidation and democratic exclusion. Contributions should explore how the current budgetary framework entrenches neoliberal governance and propose left-wing alternatives, including stronger parliamentary oversight, participatory mechanisms, and public investment rooted in democratic process and redistribution.

4. Militarisation and the Erosion of Democratic Accountability in the EU:
The EU has undergone a significant transformation in its approach to security and defence, marked by a rapidly accelerated militarisation through initiatives such as the ReArm Europe Plan and the White Paper for European Defence – Readiness 2030. The Commission and Council are expanding the EU’s defence posture under the logic of strategic autonomy and competitiveness. These developments are proceeding with minimal public deliberation, weak parliamentary oversight, and growing entanglement with private arms manufacturers, which in turn strengthens executive dominance and amplifies corporate influence. This raises questions about transparency, civilian oversight, and democratic accountability, as well as the EU’s role in shaping global security architectures, entrenching authoritarianism abroad.
We invite proposals that critically assess how the militarisation of the EU reinforces technocratic governance and reshapes the Union’s role in global security architectures. Contributions should examine the democratic deficits surrounding defence policy, including transparency, civilian oversight, and the marginalisation of alternative visions for peace and security. We particularly welcome proposals that explore pathways towards demilitarisation, democratic control over security spending, and peace-oriented foreign policy grounded in social justice, accountability, and solidarity, both within Europe and beyond.
Each paper should provide a critical assessment of the democratic content (or lack thereof) of relevant policies, highlight structural patterns, and propose progressive and democratic alternatives. Please see the compulsory styleguide for details.
We welcome proposals from scholars, policy experts, and political practitioners with a focus on EU politics, democracy, and progressive policy-making.

Timeline and Requirements
• Format: Please see the annex for details.
• Abstract requirement: Authors are invited to submit an abstract of 300–500 words outlining
their proposed contribution. The abstract should clearly state the central argument, methodology or
analytical approach, and how the paper will engage with the democratic dimensions of EU policy under the
current Commission. Please also specify which of the four paper slots your proposal aligns with.
• Deadline for submissions of abstracts: 14 July 2025, 9:00 CEST
• Optional interviews with shortlisted authors: from 16 July 2025 onward
• Project brief and start of assignment: 17 July 2025 or week beginning 21 July 2025
• Submission Timeline:
o Full papers in Word format due: 13 October 2025
o Interim presentation of draft papers (format tbc): mid-August and mid-September, to ensure alignment across
the series and avoid overlap
• Production Schedule:
o Editorial review for clarity and consistency: October/November 2025
o Copy-editing: November 2025
o Series publication: beginning late November/early December 2025
• Budget: €800, excluding VAT

Please send your abstract (300-500 words), along with a short biographical note (max. 150 words), to: Ada Regelmann at nqn.ertryznaa@ebfnyhk.bet AND vasb.oehrffry@ebfnyhk.bet, subject line: “[your name] – Abstract: From Deficit to Democracy [paper slot]”.

RLS_CfP_PolicyBriefs_DemocracyPDF-Datei (344,49 KB)

Annex_RLS_PolicyBrief_StyleguidePDF-Datei (244 KB)