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.

Die Ergebnisse und das Design der Studie stießen im deutschsprachigen Raum auf großes Interesse. Um die Diskussion auf die europäische Ebene zu heben, gibt Das Progressive Zentrum die Studie nun auf Englisch und Französisch heraus.

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.

Viele Menschen in strukturschwachen Regionen mit hohem Anteil rechtspopulistischer Wähler fühlen sich von der Politik verlassen. Das ist das Ergebnis der ersten deutsch-französischen Vergleichsstudie ihrer Art.

Am 12. Februar 2018 lädt Das Progressive Zentrum erneut mit dem Ferdinand Lassalle Centre for Social Thought zu einem #EuropeanTownHall Meeting in Warschau ein. Thema der Veranstaltung ist die Zukunft der Demokratie.

Während PolitikerInnen in Polen schon länger populistische Mittel einsetzen, ist das Phänomen in Deutschland relativ neu. Wie damit umgehen? Die ExpertInnen des 2. Deutsch-Polnische Roundtable diskutierten drei Strategien, um den Rechtspopulisten entgegenzutreten.

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.

Brexit was a wake-up call, especially for young Brits. Therefore, the Dialogue on Europe brought together representatives of the young civil society with parliamentarians and experts from the UK and Germany. Among the guests were Thomas Oppermann, Gloria de Piero, Martin Roth, James Graham and Sonia Sodha. Together, they discussed the future of British-European relations.

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.

Mit Sicherheit wäre es auch schneller gegangen, aber immerhin: 315 Tage regierte Rajoy mit einer kommissarischen Regierung. Trotz seiner Wiederwahl verfügen die Konservativen über keine eigene Regierungsmehrheit. Es gilt, die Erwartungen zu dämpfen, denn der Dauerwahlkampf droht in die parlamentarischen Institutionen getragen zu werden.

Am 07. Dezember 2016 veranstaltete Das Progressive Zentrum, unterstützt vom Auswärtigen Amt und in Kooperation mit der Stiftung fur Deutsch-Polnische Zusammenarbeit, dem Bundesnetzwerk fur Bürgerschaftliches Engagement, der Krytyka Polityczna und dem Zentrum Stosunkow Miedzynarodowych das #EuropeanTownHallMeeting in Warschau. Der Einladung zum europäischen Diskurs folgten Vertreter/innen aus Zivilgesellschaft, Wissenschaft und Kultur aus Polen und Deutschland.

Mit Fakten auf Mythen, falschen Behauptungen und Vorurteilen zur Europäischen Union und ihrer Politik begegnen – dies ist eines der zentralen Anliegen des Projektes „TruLies – The Truth about Lies on Europe“ des Instituts für Europäische Politik (IEP), das in Kooperation mit dem Progressiven Zentrum durchgeführt und von der Stiftung Mercator gefördert wird. Hierzu fand am 14. November 2016 der zweite ExpertInnenworkshop im Projektzentrum der Stiftung Mercator in Berlin statt, wo die ersten Projektergebnisse zu den Themengebieten Migration sowie europäischer Finanz- und Währungspolitik vorgestellt und mit ExpertInnen diskutiert wurden.

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.

Nach dem erfolgreichen #EuropeanTownHall Meeting im März 2016 in Lissabon und kurz vor dem am 25. – 27. November 2016 in der portugiesischen Hauptstadt stattfindenden European Thinking Lab Summit im Rahmen unseres DIALOGUE ON EUROPE-Prozesses ist nun Berlin Station im deutsch-portugiesischen Dialog.

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?