European cohesion – particularly between northern and southern Europe – has suffered massively as a result of the economic and financial crisis, and the attempts at its resolution. Against this background, Das Progressive Zentrum has been commissioned by the German Federal Foreign Office to implement the transnational dialogue process “Dialogue on Europe – Rebuilding trust and redefining Europe in tough times”. The project seeks to build a new mutual understanding between and across countries, and is actively involving representatives from Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy, France and Germany to this end. Particular emphasis is placed in the project on engaging a broad spectrum of multipliers from civil society, the media, politics, academia and industry, thus enabling longer-term cooperation on pan-European reform issues.
For more information, visit the dedicated DIALOGUE ON EUROPE Website!
Current Issues

This Discussion Paper takes a closer look at the current challenges of the European foreign policy vis-à-vis Russia and sketches a vision for a new generation of Ostpolitik, aiming at organizing European unity as well as strengthening the EU’s strategic alliances in Eastern Europe and across the Atlantic.

Why are more and more Europeans supporting populists? The significant gains made by these parties in Germany, Italy and Sweden underline the urgency of understanding the causes and appeal of populism. To uncover those, the study “Return to the politically abandoned: Conversations in right-wing populist strongholds in Germany and France” has applied a groundbreaking approach.

The study’s design and results have led to an overwhelmingly positive reception in Germany and created great interest in other countries. To take the debate to the European level, the study has now been translated into English and French

Four policy briefs, several workshops and two high-profile speeches conclude the more than two-years transnational dialogue process at eye level with young, promising thinkers from Greece, Portugal, Italy, France, Spain and Germany.

Over the course of the last two years, civil society experts and practitioners from across Europe gathered in four DIALOGUE ON EUROPE Thinking Labs to deliver fresh ideas and to independently elaborate concrete policy recommendations on four European key areas: Migration & Integration, Populism, Social Cohesion, and Sustainable Growth. Discover the summary of their proposals and the full-length policy briefs below.

One year after the first #EuropeanTownHall Meeting in Warsaw, the second bilateral Polish-German exchange was launched on 12 February 2018. Representatives of academia, civil society, and culture from Germany and Poland met to discuss the rise of populism in Europe as well as possible democratic innovations to address this phenomenon. An open debate with Manuel Sarrazin was concluded with an input by Paul Mason, offering a broader, global perspective.

On 12 February 2018, Das Progressive Zentrum together with the Ferdinand Lassalle Centre for Social Thought will host the second #EuropeanTownHall Meeting in Warsaw.

Populism is everywhere these days. Not only as a phenomenon but also as a topic in political discourse. Yet, the closer you look at it, the more you will realize that populism is quite a messy term. It signifies everything from an unease towards dissent, to the fear of a weakened democracy. More importantly, once you get a grip on how you define the term you will realize that populism may be destructive and inflammatory but is not the real problem. It is mostly a symptom for fundamental conflicts in society.

Following up on the first European Thinking Lab Summit, which took place in Lisbon in November of last year, and only one month after the last #EuropeanTownHall meeting in London, the DIALOGUE ON EUROPE Contributors gathered again on 24-26 March in Paris for the Second Thinking Lab Summit, hosted by Das Progressive Zentrum in cooperation with our French partner EuropaNova.

During the second Thinking Lab Summit in Paris, Orange Magazine spoke with Elena García Mañes and Filipe Santos Henrique. They talked about their stances on Populism in Europe.

Currently, the future of the European Union is at stake due to many disintegrative developments: the Brexit-referendum, migration challenges, rising right-wing populism or the persisting economic crisis. The outcome of the Brexit-Referendum and the low turnout in their own age-group came as a wake-up call to many young Brits

Exactly one year after launching DIALOGUE ON EUROPE, a further bilateral half-day #TownHallMeeting was organized – this time in Warsaw. On December 7 th , representatives of academia, civil society and culture from Germany and Poland followed our invitation to discuss possible future scenarios for Europe. Open discussions fed directly into a live conversation about the challenges of European integration and Polish-German relations with Michael Roth, German Minister of State for Europe.

Currently, the future of the European Union is at stake due to many disintegrative developments: the Brexit-referendum, migration challenge, rising right-wing populism or the persisting economic crisis. Challenges ahead of us are too profound and seminal to be addressed by high-ranking politicians attending closed-door summits only. Sustainable solutions can best be achieved with the support of a strong and well-connected European civil society.

Recent change of government in Poland mobilised many people, the spectrum of civil engagement is however polarised: from defenders of liberal values and adherents of conservative agenda to followers of nationalist resentments.

Representatives of civil society and academics from Poland, Germany and other European countries joined a Polish-German seminar in Wroclaw on 20-21 October in search for answers to the question of what role civil society plays at the political scene in Europe today. It seems that nowadays the notion of Europe has been undermined by an economic crisis, followed by a humanitarian one, resulting from inability to handle of the influx of refugees in Europe. Fundamental European values are questioned. European political culture is currently in need of a new approach and civil engagement. It seems, however, that the notion of “civil society” needs redefinition per se to support European democracies. Radical and populist movements win popularity in many European countries, posing a threat to democratic order. Is the democratic order in danger? Is the pluralist political culture of Europe sustainable?

The DIALOGUE ON EUROPE can look back on more than six months of fruitful discussions throughout Europe. The international dialogue process with partners from France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain started with a successful kick-off meeting in June with the German Minister for Foreign Affairs in Berlin. Pursuing this debate, Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier has today also initiated a series of Town Hall Meetings within Germany. In this spirit of concentrating our ideas and focus on Europe, we are happy to announce the launch of our new platform on which we will feature the ideas and the results of the DIALOGUE ON EUROPE process.

On 28 June 2016 German Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, together with the German Federal Minister of State for Europe, Michael Roth, officially launched the DIALOGUE ON EUROPE-project at the Europasaal of the German Federal Foreign Office in Berlin.

In the context of our transnational, civil society project “Dialogue on Europe” we are happy to announce new partnerships with five renowned think tanks from our project countries. Our new think tank partners supported us in organising the #EuropeanTownHall Meetings and have been contributing to the Opening Conference in Berlin.

After successful Town Hall Meetings in Athens, Lisbon, Rome and Marseilles the fifth and last event within the Dialogue on Europe took place in Madrid, on 16 June 2016. Once again representatives from civil society, NGOs, local initiatives, startups, think tanks, the cultural sector and from the media gathered to discuss the most pressing challenges Spain and Europe are currently facing and exchanged ideas about how to work towards a strengthened and progressive Europe.

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After successful Town Hall Meetings in Athens, Lisbon and Rome the fourth event within the Dialogue on Europe took place in Marseilles, on 26 May 2016. Once again representatives from civil society, NGOs, local initiatives, startups, think tanks, the cultural sector and from the media gathered to discuss the most pressing challenges France and Europe are currently facing and exchange ideas about how to work towards a strengthened and progressive Europe.