Discover the new podcast series "Progressive Pollsters". The first episode with Marcin Duma focusing on the far right is already available!

📺🔊 Available on YouTube, Spotify & Apple Podcast

Over the course of four episodes, FEPS Director of Research and Training Ania Skrzypek, delves into topics including elections, populism, cost-of-living, housing, and more, with:

➡️ Marcin Duma, CEO of IBRIS, Poland

All speakers are part of the Progressive Pollsters network, which brings together leading pollsters and political analysts to discuss and reflect on key political and social trends shaping Europe’s destiny, especially following the European elections in 2024.

We are often told that inflation “happens”, as if it is an unstoppable natural phenomenon. However, a new FEPS study shows that the inflation we experienced in 2021-2023 was largely caused by profiteering and speculation.

📺🔊 Available on YouTube, Spotify & Apple Podcast

In this FEPS Talks episode, Ainara Bascuñana, FEPS Head of Communication discuss with the authors of 'The profit-price spiral in food and energy' Ben Tippet, Lecturer at King’s College London and Anna Kolesnichenko, FEPS Economic Policy Analyst.

The discussion exposes the monopolistic structures within the food and energy sectors, where a handful of companies control global supply chains and manipulate prices. There is nothing unavoidable about this kind inflation, and it can and should be stopped.

In this episode of FEPS Talks, Secretary General László Andor talks with the former prime minister of Greece, George Papandreou, who in recent years has been focusing on questions of democracy in the Council of Europe. The main concern today is democratic backsliding, and in 2025 the United States is also among countries where we can observe such dramatic.

According to Papandreou, the democratic questions are organically connected with the social ones, and the European Union itself also must address democratic deficits, especially what concerns economic governance. Looking back to the ancient Greek democratic legacy, Papandreou explores opportunities of direct democracy and recalls recent experiments with such methods. He also elaborates on the new horizons which digitalisation and artificial intelligence have opened up for democratic participation and governance.

📺🔊 Available on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcast

Rethinking Security through Nuclear Disarmament with Florian Eblenkamp

We interview Florian Eblenkamp, Advocacy Officer at the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)—the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize-winning organisation—to discuss the differing positions of European countries, NATO, and the broader international debate on nuclear disarmament.

He demystifies the alleged military and deterrent effect of nuclear arms. Nuclear deterrence is based on the underlying threat of catastrophic mass destruction as a central part of policy, making it not only an ineffective strategy, but also a morally indefensible one.. Florian challenges the perceived dichotomy between disarmament and safety, insisting that the two can—and must—reinforce one another in any just and sustainable global order.

🔊📺 Available on Youtube, Spotify and Apple Podcast

Michelle O’Sullivan, Associate Professor at the University of Limerick, and member of FEPS Scientific Council, offers an assessment of recent developments in working conditions and industrial relations, including the successful crisis response to the Covid-19 pandemic. There are certainly fears that after a period of progress, Europe might be going backwards today, driven by the general intention to boost economic competitiveness.

Her country, Ireland definitely suffered a setback 15 years ago, at the time of the great financial crisis, and the consequences are still felt. When it comes to contemporary employment reforms, according to Prof. O’Sullivan, one of the most interesting countries is the United Kingdom, where the government put forward important measures to improve labour relations, which deserve attention and support. The conversation ends with outlining some new ideas, like the 4-day work week, which is among the ideas that became subject of experiments and potentially can contribute to improve working conditions in Europe in the coming years.

Peace keeping expert Prof. John Karlsrud (head of the international NAVIGATOR research project) comments on the current European discussion regarding the creation and maintanence of peace in Ukraine. He puts forward concrete ideas regarding the composition of peace keeping forces in Ukraine, and clarifies why the United Nations could not have been more instrumental during the last 3 years of war. Prof. Karlsrud is strongly in favour of EU enlargement, including to foster peace in the Western Balkans, and finally he also comments on the broader European institutional architecture, highlighting the significance of old organisations like the OSCE and new ones like the EPC.