Xavier Prat-Monné, Special Advisor at Teach for all and at the Open University of Catalonia, former EC Director General for Education and Culture, discusses with Dr. David Rinaldi, FEPS Director of Studies and Policies, how the pandemic and other societal transformations are impacting the way we understand and organise education. A crucial point is to rethink education to really contribute to curb inequalities and open up opportunities for all starting from the early years; secondly, the vertica...
Feb 12, 2021•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Belén Barreiro, CEO of 40dB and Maria Freitas, FEPS Senior Policy Advisor discuss the multidimensional aspects as how the current health crisis is affecting the experiences of young people. Belén and Maria also discuss how the Millennial generation that already faced with the effects of the 2008 economic crisis at their emancipation age are now again bearing the burden of a new recession, just at a time when this generation was sensing a greater material stability. Belén and Maria conclude that ...
Feb 05, 2021•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast EU guarantees every employee a right to 11 hours undisturbed rest. But how can it be ensured, when more than 1/3 works remotely, and there is an unspoken expectation in many companies that everyone remains reachable all the time? Who should be in charge of making sure that each person should close a computer at the end of the contractually agreed working time and truly disconnect? How are those issues connected with new kind of empowerment of employees and for preserving productivity levels? Fin...
Jan 29, 2021•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Michaela Kauer, Director of the Brussels Office of the City of Vienna and Co-coordinator of EU Urban Agenda Housing Partnership, joins David Rinaldi, FEPS Director of Studies & Policy, in this episode of the FEPS Talks podcast series to speak about housing policy and how the EU can help improving living conditions. The quality of the dwellings and the neighborhoods we live in are an fundamental part of our wellbeing; the COVID-19 pandemic has made it overwhelmingly clear. How should progressives...
Jan 22, 2021•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast Professor Bo Rothstein, August Röhss Chair in Political Science at the University of Gothenburg, joins Vassilis Ntousas, Senior International Relations Policy Advisor at FEPS, for an episode with a special focus on American democracy, the drivers behind the tragic events on the US Capitol Hill, and the opportunity this moment presents both for the US and Europe.
Jan 15, 2021•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast This podcast addresses the gender digital gaps and the extra challenges the online sphere poses to women and girls. Our guest speaker Dr. Lilia Giugni (researcher at the University of Cambridge, intersectional feminist activist and CEO of GenPol) discusses with Laeticia Thissen (FEPS Gender Equality Policy Advisor) about the causes and consequences of female underrepresentation in STEM fields but also about how online violence disproportionally affects women and girls whilst evoking possible pol...
Jan 08, 2021•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast László Andor and Mikael Leyi, Secretary Generals (respectively) of FEPS and Solidar, analyse in the last FEPS Talk podcast episode of 2020 the lessons learnt during the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of the different policy measures at European and national levels. What role social democrats have played to foster solidarity? Did policy makers listen to civil society before taking important decisions? They look back to key moments of 2020 like the budget negotiations or the discussion about an ...
Dec 30, 2020•31 min•Ep 63•Transcript available on Metacast Rosa Balfour, Director of Carnegie Europe, joins Vassilis Ntousas, Senior International Relations Policy Advisor at FEPS, for an episode with a special focus on the EU’s global role and engagement, in light of the year that is coming to an end, and in expectation of the year that is in front of us. What were the highs and lows of 2020 for the world and the EU? What lessons can we learn from this eventful year and where should Europe’s focus be regarding 2021?
Dec 23, 2020•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast FEPS Talks featuring Professor Marek Belka, MEP and Vice-President of the S&D Group in a conversation with Dr. Ania Skrzypek, FEPS Director for Research and Training. The announcement of the Future of Europe Conference geared a lot of enthusiasm, followed by many questions with the main one being: when would it start? While replies are pending, the Socialists and Democrats are getting ready to face the historical challenge, being the most consolidated political family on the issue. They have cle...
Dec 17, 2020•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast Professor Vivien Schmidt, Jean Monnet Chair of European Integration at Boston University exchanges with Dr. David Rinaldi, FEPS Director of Studies & Policy on the comparison between the financial crisis and the current health crisis. Particularly, they reflect on the democratic process of EU decision-making and its legitimacy, with some insights from the latest book by Prof. Schmidt on "Europe's crisis of Legitimacy - Governing by Rules and Ruling by Numbers in the Eurozone". She stresses that ...
Dec 10, 2020•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast Why is it that alongside the rise of antitrust in the past decades, we seen an equal rise in market concentration across the economy? Justin Nogarede, FEPS Digital Policy Adviser, and Michelle Meagher, competition lawyer and author of "Competition is Killing Us: How Big Business is Harming Our Society and Planet", explore this apparent paradox. Having looked at competition policy from a regulator’s perspective, as an academic, and a legal practitioner, she has some unique insights to share. The ...
Dec 03, 2020•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast On the occasion of the international day for the elimination of violence against women on 25 November and as a contribution the UN 16 days of activism against gender-based violence under the global theme “Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect!”, Pirkko Mahlamäki (European Women’s Lobby Executive Committee member, secretary general of the Finnish Disability Forum and Executive Committee Member o thef European Disability Forum) and Laeticia Thissen (FEPS Gender Equality Policy Advisor)...
Nov 27, 2020•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Professor Stephen Walt from the Harvard Kennedy School joins Vassilis Ntousas, Senior Policy Advisor at FEPS, for a timely discussion on U.S. foreign policy post-2020. What will be the impact of president Trump’s continuing refusal to concede that he lost the election on America’s international engagement and how are the domestic institutional arrangements going to affect the global agenda of the Biden administration? What should substantiate a new U.S. approach vis-à-vis China and what is the n...
Nov 20, 2020•34 min•Ep 57•Transcript available on Metacast Mara Oldenburg, Board Member of Germany’s Youth Participation Resource Centre and Maria Freitas, FEPS Senior Policy Advisor who discuss the merits and opportunities of implementing vote at 16 so as to meaningfully include young people in democratic processes. Both experts also discuss the power of effective civic education and how it can have an long term effect in sparking political engagement among youth. Vote @ 16 has proved to have an undeniably positive impact on youth political engagement....
Nov 12, 2020•16 min•Ep 56•Transcript available on Metacast Esther Lynch (Deputy Secretary General, European Trade Union Confederation) and Laeticia Thissen (FEPS Gender Equality Policy Adviser) take a closer look at equal pay from an EU perspective on the occasion of EU Equal Pay Day, on the 4th of November 2020. What is it still so urgent to address the gender pay gaps in the EU in 2020? What are the direct and indirect forms of discriminations fuelling persisting gender inequalities? What are the trade union’s expectations from the EU when it comes to...
Nov 04, 2020•31 min•Ep 55•Transcript available on Metacast Dr. Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bak, Polish MP "Left Coalition" Group, and Dr. Ania Skrzypek, FEPS Director for Reasearch and Training, analyse the current situation in Poland. Thousands of people of all ages march the streets of Polish cities, towns and villages. They took to the streets, after the governing party Law and Justice politically controlled Constitutional Tribunal - for which the EU launched infringement procedures - and ruled to further restrict the already oppressive abortion law. The...
Oct 30, 2020•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast Seth Harris, acting Secretary of Labor in the administration of Barack Obama, and László Andor, FEPS Secretary General analyse in this podcast episode how US faced the unprecedent challenge of the Covid-19 crisis. Harris defines the most immediate answer as rapid and innovative, thanks to the Democrats in the Congress rather than to President Trump. They increased unemployment benefits and the eligibility to them. However the funds are about to run out, while Republicans are proposing austerity ...
Oct 22, 2020•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast The issue of care has gained much attention lately. But what do we really mean when we talk about “care”? Why is it still so undervalued in spite of its vital role? What are the main challenges faced by care workers? How does care interact with gender inequalities and what are progressive answers to overcome those inequalities? The report “Cherishing All Equally 2020: inequality and the care economy” report just published by FEPS (Foundation of European Progressive Studies) and TASC (Think-tank ...
Oct 15, 2020•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Elisabetta Gualmini, S&D member of the European Parliament and Professor of Bologna University, and László Andor, FEPS Secretary General, discuss in this FEPS Talks podcast episode the chance of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) to be adopted in time. They also analyse the nature and the implementation of the Recovery Plan, from the perspective of progressive requirements. As member of the EP Committee on Budgets, Gualmini highlights the importance of innovation in the area of own resour...
Oct 08, 2020•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast Professor Enrico Giovannini, former Italian Minister of Labour and Social Policies, is the special guest of the 50th edition of FEPS Talks. Secretary General László Andor interviews him during an online festival that commemorated the 5th anniversary of the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals. They elaborate on the complex meaning of sustainability and well-being, and debate about how the European Union can improve its strategies, and for that to apply some best practices of Italy regar...
Sep 26, 2020•31 min•Ep 50•Transcript available on Metacast Europe is a united continent despite its differences; some of the EU member states are about the better performing countries in terms of equality, others aren’t. Professor Dorling observes that economic prosperity is actually higher in countries that are more equal, empirical evidence is clear on the matter. Then, why we still think that big differences in wages are needed to ensure high productivity? The podcast episode also presents some of the results of the FEPS & TASC report on “Inequality ...
Sep 16, 2020•25 min•Ep 49•Transcript available on Metacast Ahead of the United Nations General Assembly and on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the UN, Salma Bava, Professor and Jean Monnet Chair, Centre for European Studies, at J. Nehru University in New Delhi, and Hedwig Giusto, FEPS Senior Policy Advisor and editor-in-chief of the Progressive Post, discuss of the urgent need to reform an increasingly weakened multilateral system. The Covid-19 crisis has exposed even more the shortcoming of a system, built on the wake of the second world war, w...
Sep 10, 2020•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Francesca Bria, President of the Italian National Innovation Fund is the guest of this #FEPSTalks episode presented by Justin Nogarede, FEPS Digital Policy Advisor. We look at how the corona-crisis has changed the discussion around digital technology, and of course, we ask her views on the EU digital policy agenda. Given our dependency on digital technology, the lack of democratic control over digital infrastructure, and increasing technological competition between the US and China, how should t...
Sep 02, 2020•38 min•Ep 47•Transcript available on Metacast It’s been 20 long days since the Presidential elections in Belarus. Their announced outcome, giving a landslide victory to the President Lukaszenko, prompted protests across the country. Thousands and thousands join in, standing up for freedom, democracy and justice. At the forefront are women, workers and young people - who want a different future for their country. Their determination is a key to perseverance of the mobilisation, whilst they are faced with brutality, intimidation and possible ...
Aug 28, 2020•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, former President of Malta and current President of Eurochild, is the guest of this FEPS Talks podcast episode conducted by FEPS Secretary General László Andor. The main topic of the conversation is the one she has committed to during her entire political life: how to tackle child poverty. The problem is not new, but it has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 outbreak in most EU countries. This makes the EU Child Guarantee a very timely initiative, and an instrument that ...
Aug 20, 2020•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Matteo de Bellis, researcher at International Amnesty, discusses with Hedwig Giusto, FEPS Policy Advisor on Migration the current situation for migrants and refugees in Libya and along the Central Mediterranean route, as well as the effects that the COVID19 pandemic had on them. Both experts also analyse how Libya became the receiving country of migrants and refugees during the Gaddafi era and the current relationship with the European Union in terms of migration. De Bellis denounces the situati...
Aug 13, 2020•25 min•Ep 44•Transcript available on Metacast László Andor, FEPS Secretary General invited Professor Gustav Horn (member of FEPS Scientific Council as well as the Federal Board of the German SPD, former director of IMK) to discuss the recent shift in the German economic policy paradigm. The key question is how the German doctrine differs in this crisis as compared to previous one. What generates this change, and what else we might expect beyond facilitating a new model EU budget for the post-pandemic recovery. Prof. Horn highlights the impo...
Aug 06, 2020•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dr. Lina Gálvez Muñoz (MEP, S&D, Spain) offers her viewpoints from a feminist economics perspective in an exchange with Laeticia Thissen (FEPS Gender Equality Policy Adviser) in the backdrop of the global public attention attracted by female leaders’ role in curbing the COVID-19 pandemic. Identifying key issues ranging from the importance of gender-disaggregated data to the lack of gender budgeting, she namely highlights need to empower more female progressive leaders to enable the emergence of ...
Jul 30, 2020•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast With the ongoing European Council in the background (podcast recorded on the 17th July 2020), Tomáš Petříček, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, and Ania Skrzypek, FEPS Director for Research and Training, discuss the perspective for Europe, looking at the two-folded path to recovery. Their exchange touches upon existing hurdles, taking the audience to the kitchen of the negotiations - whereby the position of Czech Government especially regarding the Next Generation EU, MFF and Fu...
Jul 23, 2020•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dr. Daphne Halikiopoulou, Associate Professor at the at the University of Reading, and László Andor, FEPS Secretary General, analyse the results of the latest Populism Tracker published by FEPS and Policy Solutions. They consider “ups and downs” as the main trend of recent years, and warn against using the term “populist’ as an umbrella for all the anti-establishment political parties. This is not only about the distinction between Far Right and Radical Left. There are interesting regional patte...
Jul 16, 2020•22 min•Ep 40•Transcript available on Metacast 
