PhD in Media, Communication and Culture at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Interests : Policy Democracy
Countries : Spain

PhD in Media, Communication and Culture at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, he is also a political scientist and photojournalist. His research focuses on far right discourses. He is member of the Research Group on Discourse and Social Protest (GIDYP), part of the Centre of Discourse Studies. Currently, he works on the ARENAS project, analyzing extremist narratives across Europe.

Publications
How (not) to fight the far right

This policy study investigates the strategies employed by European social democratic parties in response to the rise of far-right political parties since the 2010s. By building on well over 100 academic studies, we draw clear strategic implications for progressive actors facing far-right competition. 

After looking at scientific research on how to fight the far right, a minimum of three strategic orientations emerge:
1)         Social democrats must systematically understand why far-right narratives resonate – examining social grievances, emotions and discursive strategies – without adopting far-right frames.
2)         They must reclaim agenda-setting power by foregrounding areas of long-standing credibility – notably, welfare, redistribution and economic justice – and by refusing debates imposed on far-right terms.
3)         Social democrats need a positive, forward-looking vision that combines an inclusive collective identity with a credible agenda for economic equality, reconnecting policy with collective emotions.

Read the Policy Study

Academic Mentor: Daphne Halikiopoulou, Professor of Comparative Politics at University of Reading
Political Mentor: Mathias Ecke, S&D MEP of the European Parliament

Members
PhD in Political Science from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Political researcher at Eteron
Interests : Policy Democracy
Countries : Greece
PhD Candidate University of Surrey
Interests : EU external relations Democracy
Countries : Turkey United Kingdom
PhD in Media, Communication and Culture at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Interests : Policy Democracy
Countries : Spain
PhD candidate in Economics at KU Leuven
Interests : Democracy Economy
Countries : Italy Belgium
Research associate and PhD candidate at FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg
Interests : Policy Democracy
Countries : Germany
PhD candidate at Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich
Interests : Democracy Foreign Affairs
Countries : Germany
Publications
22/07/2026

How (not) to fight the far right

FEPS YAN papers 9th cycle

Joint PhD at the University of Edinburgh and KU Leuven

Interests : Inequality Foreign Affairs Democracy
Countries : United Kingdom Spain Belgium

Unai Gómez-Hernández is a joint PhD at the University of Edinburgh and KU Leuven. His work focuses on how European radical right populist parties influence the EU’s external action vis-à-vis China. He is member of the EPRG and LINES research groups at Edinburgh and Leuven, respectively. His broader research interests deal with political parties, European external action, EU-China relations, and the Liberal International Order. Before embarking upon the PhD journey, he worked in the private sector, for the Basque Environmental Cluster in Bilbao, and in the public sector, as an advisor to the Delegate of the Basque Country in Brussels. He holds a BSc in Political Science (University of the Basque Country), BSc in International Relations (London School of Economics and Political Science), and a MA in International Relations and Diplomacy of the EU (College of Europe, Bruges Campus). On his free time, Unai enjoys reading, debating politics with friends, and playing League of Legends.

Publications
Inequality and populism

In recent years, European citizens have witnessed a rise in inequality, especially socio-economic, alongside an increase in vote share for radical right populist parties. By examining case studies from Italy, Hungary, and Spain (with the comparative case of Germany), this policy study argues that the rise of populism is not only linked to economic trends but also to other constitutional changes and institutional settings characterising European countries with a focus on economic inequality as the explanatory variable for political participation.

Read the Policy Study

Political Mentor: Gaby Bischoff, MEP S&D
Academic Mentor: Eunice Goes, Professor of Politics at Richmond American University of London

Members

Joint PhD at the University of Edinburgh and KU Leuven

Interests : Inequality Foreign Affairs Democracy
Countries : United Kingdom Spain Belgium
Upholding core Union values. The European Parliament’s engagement with the Rule of Law Reports during the ninth legislative term

This policy study analyses how the European Parliament (EP) has engaged with the European Commission’s Rule of Law Reports (RoLRs) during the ninth legislative term (2019-2024). It also examines what this engagement reveals about the EP’s understanding of the rule of law and its capacity to strengthen EU-level democratic safeguards.

Drawing on a qualitative analysis of parliamentary resolutions, debates and voting patterns, the policy study examines whether the EP approaches the rule of law primarily as a procedural-legal standard or as a broader normative principle encompassing fundamental rights, equality and democratic inclusion.

Read the Policy Study

Academic Mentor: Felix Butzlaff, political scientist and postdoctoral fellow at the Central European University Vienna
Political Mentor: Juan Fernando López Aguilar, S&D Coordinator LIBE Committee

Members
Ph.D. Researcher and Lecturer of EU law at Maastricht University
Interests : Democracy Gender Equality
Countries : Belgium Italy
Doctoral researcher in Comparative Politics and a lecturer at the University of Cologne
Interests : Democracy Foreign Affairs
Countries : Germany United Kingdom Turkey

Joint PhD at the University of Edinburgh and KU Leuven

Interests : Inequality Foreign Affairs Democracy
Countries : United Kingdom Spain Belgium
Publications
17/03/2026

Upholding core Union values. The European Parliament's engagement with the Rule of Law Reports during the ninth legislative term

FEPS YAN papers 9th Cycle
15/05/2024

Inequality and populism

FEPS YAN Series

Expert in data analysis for public management and political analysis

Interests : Digital
Countries : Spain

Graduated in Political Science and Administration from the University of Barcelona with a master’s degree in Investigative Journalism and Data Visualization from the International University of La Rioja. He has the title of Expert in data analysis for public management and political analysis by the University of Barcelona. Former First Secretary of the Youth Socialists of Baix Llobregat (JSC, Spain) and now Councillor of Presidency, Strategic Projects and Open Government in the City of Sant Joan Despí. 

Deeply interested in social and territorial inequalities, focusing on gender and age variables, and the relationship of these factors to political and electoral behavior in liberal democracies.

Publications
EU regulation on transparency and targeting of political advertising?

This policy study delves into the evolution of the regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the transparency and targeting of political advertising, exploring upcoming key changes and their connection to broader discussions on populism, democratic values, and access to quality information. Additionally, it provides guidelines for progressive parties on leveraging this legislation to initiate comprehensive strategies to combat extremist populism and antidemocratic movements within the EU.

Read the policy study

Political Mentor: Alex Agius Saliba, MEP S&D
Academic Mentor: Kuba Jablonowski, Lecturer in Digital Sociology

Members

Adjunct professor at the Universidad Carlos
III de Madrid.

Interests : Digital Economy
Countries : Spain

Kilian Wirthwein is a political consultant and has taught the subjects History of the World Economy and World Politics as an adjunct professor at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M). He currently teaches Globalisation at the Rhein-Waal University. Previously, he was an associate consultant at Teneo International. He holds a BA in international relations from the Rhein-Waal University, an MSc in conflict studies from LSE and an MSc in global governance and diplomacy from the University of Oxford, for which he received a Talentia Scholarship from the Regional Government of Andalucía (Spain).

Publications
EU regulation on transparency and targeting of political advertising?

This policy study delves into the evolution of the regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the transparency and targeting of political advertising, exploring upcoming key changes and their connection to broader discussions on populism, democratic values, and access to quality information. Additionally, it provides guidelines for progressive parties on leveraging this legislation to initiate comprehensive strategies to combat extremist populism and antidemocratic movements within the EU.

Read the policy study

Political Mentor: Alex Agius Saliba, MEP S&D
Academic Mentor: Kuba Jablonowski, Lecturer in Digital Sociology

Members

Post-doctoral researcher Maastricht University

Interests : Democracy
Countries : Spain Netherlands Belgium

Alvaro Oleart is a post-doctoral researcher at the at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences of Maastricht University, and a scientific collaborator at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. He is the author of the book Framing TTIP in the European public spheres: Towards an Empowering Dissensus for EU integration (2021), published by the series Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology. His fields of interest are the European public sphere,  the role of civil society in the EU policy-making, EU trade policy, populism and democracy in Europe, and the analysis of discourse and narratives.

Citizens’ Europe – An institutional turn for an ever-democratic union?

Publications
Future of Europe

The paper outlines a vision of the ongoing Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE) from various perspectives and sets out proposals regarding how it should develop in order to contribute to making the EU more democratic. First, the paper discusses further steps the Conference should take towards bridging the gap between EU and national politics.

Second, the paper analyses previous initiatives of treaty reforms which may be incorporated into the Conference on the Future of Europe. Third, the paper lays out the visions of Europe in a half-century’s time among EU Commission officials. Last, the paper discusses citizens’ involvement in shaping EU future through a broader process of European deliberative democracy, and how the CoFoE could advance such a perspective.

Read the paper:
Citizens’ Europe - An institutional turn for an ever-democratic union?

Political Mentor: S&D MEP Domènec Ruiz Devesa
Academic Mentor: Michael Holms, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at Liverpool Hope University

https://www.youtube.com/embed/yHIayD_W1-s
Members
Publications
29/01/2026

Progressive Yearbook 2026

13/12/2024

The great countdown

A guide on how to arrive prepared for the European elections 2029
28/03/2022

Citizens’ Europe - An institutional turn for an ever-democratic union?

FEPS YAN