EU Scream

Should lobbyists engage with far-right and extremist lawmakers? After the EU elections in May, about 20 percent of members of the European Parliament have far-right agendas. That's a big gain — up from 10-to-15 percent five years ago. That’s also around 150 far-right lawmakers companies can lobby for favourable votes and amendments. Many people are uncomfortable with that prospect...

A conversation with Anthony L. Gardner, the former US ambassador to the EU under President Obama. Gardner is a former director on the National Security Council who has spent much of his career in Europe. He left his ambassadorial post in Brussels when Donald Trump entered the White House, and he was succeeded by Gordon Sondland, a hotel magnate with scant government experience...

André Wilkens is the director of the European Cultural Foundation, an organisation created after the Second World War to help heal the continent’s wounds. Under Wilkens the Foundation has stepped up grantmaking to arts and media aiming to strengthen democracy at another pivotal moment in Europe's history. Marta Keil is a serious figure in the Polish arts scene. She co-runs a performing arts institute, curates festivals, and written extensively on dance and choreography...

Ahdaf Soueif is a model of the politically engaged artist. She wrote the bestselling novel The Map of Love, she was a frequent commentator during the revolution in her native Egypt, and she is in the news again after resigning as a trustee of the British Museum over its reluctance to discuss issues like repatriation. Throughout her adult life, Soueif has moved between Britain and Egypt, and she grew up in a Cairo where Europeans and Arabs lived side-by-side...

Far-right trolls often target women and minorities and seek to subvert the work of politicians, journalists and activists. But technology platforms and their supporters tend to resist the kinds of legislation that could help tame the trolls. Effective rules still could be years away...

For many people, Emmanuel Macron still represents the great hope for an open and liberal Europe. So what to make of the French president’s growing preoccupation with Islam, terror and security? Mehreen Khan of The Financial Times dissects Macron’s policies and his recent interview with The Economist. For more on Macron, we go to Majlinda Bregu, the Sarajevo-based secretary general of the Regional Cooperation Council...

How are campaigners winning progressive victories in the age of bigots and bullies? Kajal Odedra is the UK director of Change.org, a global petition service that allows members of the public to mobilise support for issues they care about. She’s also the author of the 2019 book Do Something: Activism for Everyone. Andrew Stroehlein is the European Media Director for Human Rights Watch, an international non-governmental organisation that investigates and reports on abuses worldwide...

Michael Peel of the Financial Times unpicks the patterns underlying the authoritarian revival in Europe and worldwide. His recently published book, The Fabulists, explores how leaders menace democracy and human rights while claiming to be modernizers and saviors. It's an artfully written journalistic memoir from a decade of foreign correspondence. It's also a cautionary tale about how quickly countries catch the autocracy virus...

Concern is growing that emergency powers deployed to control the coronavirus pandemic are being used to erode democracy and civil rights. Joelle Grogan, a senior lecturer in law at Middlesex University London, describes the curbs on liberty that may be coming your way — and what can be done so such measures are proportionate and fair. Grogan also sounds the alarm about steps that could allow Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to rule by decree in response to the outbreak...

Věra Jourová is the Czech politician who is vice-president for values and transparency at the European Commission, the body that proposes and enforces laws across the European Union. She was listed among the 100 most influential people of 2019 by Time magazine for helping pass GDPR — rules protecting Europeans' personal data — in her prior role as Europe’s justice commissioner...