Two Events in Brussels

I was in Brussels on April 30 for two events. I was a keynote speaker on the panel “Pills of Inspiration—Progressive Ideas Worth Spreading” at the Foundation for Progressive Studies (FEPS) Annual Flagship conference: Call to Europe: The Future is Social.  I spoke about the potential negative impact on social policy of the recent reform of the fiscal rules, which is likely to bring austerity back for a number of Eurozone member-states because it does little to change the restrictive ”governing by rules and ruling by numbers” of the Eurozone, which is the subtitle of my 2020 book: Europe’s Crisis of Legitimacy.

At the Université Libre de Bruxelles, I discussed the nature and policy implications of populism, and in particular how so-called populists have had significant impact on the policy agenda while out of power, through the push and pull of their ideas and discourse, as well as in power, when they can implement their policy ideas. The talk was based on my recently published article, “Populist Agenda-Setting: Shaping the Narrative, Framing the Debate, Captivating the ‘People, Upending the Mainstream, Capturing Power” (Journal of European Public Policy online Dec. 19, 2023).