Time to reset! How can we revitalise European democracies? • 14 October 2025
In recent years, illiberal right-wing political parties and candidates, which challenge established democratic norms and principles, have experienced many electoral successes. These successes – including Donald Trump, Herbert Kickl and the FPÖ in Austria and Marine Le Pen and the RN in France in 2024, as well as PiS-backed presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki in Poland in 2025 – often seem to catch us by surprise as we are still struggling to identify the reasons behind them. We therefore need new ideas to better understand the current challenges facing liberal and social democracies.
On one hand, we need to make people aware of the threats from illiberal and far right politics and why everybody has to worry about and defend democracy. Not only do we have to convince people (once again) that civil liberties and an independent judiciary are essential elements in advanced democracies. We also have to better protect people from information manipulation and illiberal right-wing propaganda, both on- and offline. On the other hand, our democracies also have to improve people's daily lives and strengthen their ties to democracy through better governance and tangible outcomes.
Accordingly, this year, the Brussels Democracy Dialogue will interrogate our established explanations of these phenomena. Together with experts on progressive democracy from politics, academia, trade unions and civil society in Europe and beyond, we will offer new solutions with a view to successfully countering the rise of illiberal right-wing forces and revitalising European democracies.
Our moderator is Jacki Davis, Senior Adviser at the European Policy Centre (EPC).
The Brussels Democracy Dialogue (BDD) is a high-level platform for the exchange of progressive ideas and proposals for addressing the abovementioned challenges to democracies. The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung EU Office in Brussels and the FES Democracy of the Future Office in Vienna are organising it in Brussels, with and for around 100 progressive democracy experts from politics, academia, trade unions and civil society from Europe and beyond.
The aim of the BDD is to question our established explanations and to offer new and innovative solutions that can help progressive actors successfully to confront the recent global trend of democratic backsliding. There is a particular focus on how social democracy can be defended and how it should respond to the current challenges.
To read further, explore the Brussels Democracy Dialogue 2024 and the Brussels Democracy Papers, a series of policy briefs developed from last year's event.
This event is by invitation only. For further information, please contact Filip Milacic via filip.milacic(at)fes.de or Marco Schwarz via marco.schwarz@fes.de.
Tudor, Maya
by Maya Tudor ; Issuing department: FES Democracy of the Future, Vienna [&] FES EU Office Brussels. - Bonn : Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V., [2025]. - 5 Seiten = 115 KB, PDF-File. - (How to transition to sustainable democracies?). - (Brussels democracy paper ; 3/25)Electronic ed.: Brussels/Vienna : FES, 2025
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Stokes, Susan
by Susan Stokes ; Issuing department: FES Democracy of the Future, Vienna [&] FES EU Office Brussels. - Bonn : Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V., [2025]. - 4 Seiten = 130 KB, PDF-File. - (How to transition to sustainable democracies?). - (Brussels democracy paper ; 1/25)Electronic ed.: Brussels/Vienna : FES, 2025ISBN 978-3-98628-678-1
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Sobovitz, Dan; Preiss, Omri
The urgency of transnational cooperation / by Dan Sobovitz and Omri Preiss ; Issuing department: FES Democracy of the Future, Vienna [&] FES EU Office Brussels. - Bonn : Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V., [2025]. - 2 Seiten = 110 KB, PDF-File. - (How to transition to sustainable democracies?). - (Brussels democracy paper ; 2/25)Electronic ed.: Brussels/Vienna : FES, 2025ISBN 978-3-98628-677-4
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+43 (0) 1 890 3811 305democracy.vienna(at)fes.de
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