Europa
IMAGO/Alberto Gardin
In the Spanish State, all indicators seem to point in the same direction: we are coming to the end of a cycle, in which what has been called the “Space for Change” is in retreat and even disappearing in many regions. Significant internal disagreements within the Left, right-wing and far-right parties committed to propagating fake news and stoking tensions, and a social democracy that has been neglected for years have all come together to create a society divided by media and discursive polarization, and the disaffection of the majority of citizens.
read more "Low Expectations for Spain’s Divided Left"
read more "Low Expectations for Spain’s Divided Left"
MEP Cornelia Ernst looks back on her time fighting for refugee rights in Europe
During the summer slump, and 30 years after the right of asylum was restricted in the German constitution, Thorsten Frei, an MP for the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), could think of nothing better than suggesting that this fundamental human right be struck from Germany’s Basic Law altogether. Get rid of the right to asylum, replace it with a quota solution (with absolutely no basis in either human rights or constitutional law), he suggested.
Eliminating ...
read more "Thirty Years of Struggle for a Humane Asylum Policy"
read more "Thirty Years of Struggle for a Humane Asylum Policy"
Country and election analyses for the 2019 European electionsThe 2019 European elections will take place in rather unsettling times for the European Union. With the fallout from the euro crisis far from over, the Union looks on anxiously as the next cycle of crisis approaches. Moreover, one consequence of the euro crisis is that it exacerbated a serious crisis of legitimacy for the system of representative democracy in the European Union and EU Member States. Extreme right-wing and right-wing populist forces are growing stronger everywhere. In many countries they ...
read more "Fateful elections for Europe?"
read more "Fateful elections for Europe?"
When he came to power, Emmanuel Macron – who claims to be “neither left nor right” and considers “liberalism a leftist value” (1) – pledged to overcome political divisions. This forced his opponents to develop strategies and measures that would enable them to survive on the new political stage. While the socialists, conservatives, and extreme right are struggling to reinvent themselves, the left seems to be gaining a surprising momentum, both on the streets and in parliament – and not just since Macron took office.
While an electoral victory for ...
read more "The left in France under Macron"
read more "The left in France under Macron"
In the debate on Europe, Emmanuel Macron is trying to sell himself as a proponent of deeper EU integration, in particular for its hard core, the eurozone. To this end, he has formulated several concepts, not least ‘European sovereignty’: the need for Europeans to unite to assert their influence on the world. He has also brought to the table several proposals—a eurozone budget, transnational lists—which European partners, especially German chancellor Angela Merkel, have received with caution. Domestically-speaking, Macron, being the good liberal that ...
read more "Macron’s European ambitions dashed"
read more "Macron’s European ambitions dashed"