Senior Research Fellow at University of Warwick, UK. 

Interests : EU external relations Policy
Countries : United Kingdom

Cleo is currently Senior Research Fellow working on the EU-UK relations at the University of Warwick with Professor Hussein Kassim. Much of the research work she does is at the interface of research and policy. She recently finished a joint Royal Society of Edinburgh - University of Edinburgh project on 'Rethinking Policy Impact'. She is an associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has taught at Edinburgh University since January 2016. Edinburgh is where she currently lives and where she did her PhD on the European Commission’s response to the Global Financial Crisis 2008-2010. Before academia, she worked at European level for five and a half years, first as a political advisor in PES and then as a policy officer representing local and regional authorities at European level.  

PhD candidate Kingston University London

Interests : Economy Social Europe
Countries : Austria United Kingdom

Christian is a PhD student in economics at Kingston University London. He completed his BSc in economics at the Vienna University for Business and Economics and his MA in Political Economy at Kingston University London. He is interested in heterodox (neo-Kaleckian) macroeconomics and Marxist Political Economy. His research is both empirical and theoretical, although with an emphasis on the theoretical argument. Empirically, he specialises in simple time-series econometrics. Christian teaches economics and statistics at SOAS University and Goldsmiths University, respectively. In his previous FEPS YAN cycle he worked on the European Pillar of Social Rights. Christian is a member of the Labour Party, several trade unions, and some more grass roots organisations.

How to unlock the European Investment Bank’s potential: four reforms

Working Groups
European Investment Bank

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the EU’s multilateral development bank. In this FEPS YAN policy study, the authors suggest four reforms that would help progressive policymakers to utilize unlock the EIB’s potential to play a greater role in the EU economy and its transition to a more resilient, climate-neutral, and progressive economy.

First, the authors suggest the EIB adopts more comprehensive lending targets based on social and environmental criteria. Second, they highlight the need for a stronger focus on equity-like instruments rather than debt instruments, especially in the ongoing response to the Covid-19 crisis. Third, they propose to strengthen the EIB’s accountability towards the European Parliament to ensure a legitimate political direction and democratic control of its activities. Fourth, they propose to convert the EIB’s retained profits into paid-in capital, unlocking up to €110 billion of additional lending capacity. To simultaneously accomplish increased democratic accountability, the authors suggest converting the EIB’s retained profits into EU capital and thus making the EU an EIB shareholder.

Read the paper:
How to unlock the European Investment Bank’s potential: four reforms

Political Mentor: EP Vice President and S&D MEP Pedro Silva Pereira
Academic Mentor: Carlo d' Ippoliti, Associate professor of political economy at the Department of Statistical Sciences of Sapienza University of Rome.

Members

Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute, Florence

Interests : Democracy
Countries : Germany United Kingdom

Marius S. Ostrowski is Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute, Florence, and was previously Examination Fellow in Politics at All Souls College, University of Oxford. His interests lie in the theory and history of social democracy and European unification, and his publications include Left Unity: Manifesto for a Progressive Alliance (2020) and the edited series of the Collected Works by the socialist thinker Eduard Bernstein (2018-). He is Online and Social Media Editor of the Journal of Political Ideologies, and Founding Editor of its affiliated blog Ideology Theory Practice.

The European Basic Income

Working Groups
European Basic Income

Across the political spectrum, there is widespread agreement that the European Union (EU) needs a palpable social dimension. In this FEPS YAN policy study, the authors provide a research-driven policy proposal on how this social dimension can be achieved in the light of the diversity of national welfare systems in the EU.

They argue that a Universal Basic Income (UBI) could be a conceptually appealing policy to be implemented at EU level, complementing national welfare states. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the policy is receiving unprecedented and ever-increasing attention, and enjoys widespread public popularity, but is viewed with scepticism by major political parties.

This paper is a unified source of information for progressive policymakers, advocates, consultants, and researchers who are interested in (a) how a European UBI could be concretely designed and (b) the reasoning and justifications behind its concrete design decisions. In order to formulate a policy proposal that could potentially foster cross- partisan compromises and move public policy preferences and political reality closer together, the authors conducted a comprehensive review of historical and contemporary UBI debates, gathered the key arguments presented in academic, popular, political, and organisational sources, and reflected on them from logical, normative, and empirical perspectives.

Based on the most plausible arguments for and against a UBI, they designed a concrete policy proposal for a UBI at the EU level that responds to broadly progressive ideals from different partisan backgrounds. The result is an ambitious yet feasible proposal that bridges political divides and, if implemented, would be the most substantial leap for Social Europe yet.

Read the paper:
The European Basic Income

Political Mentor: S&D MEP Agnes Jongerius
Academic Mentor: Lorena Lombardozzi, Senior Lecturer in Economics at the Open University.

Members

Political Anthropologist

Interests : Democracy
Countries : United Kingdom United States

Political anthropologist based in the UK whose primary research has been with and about European Union civil servants. His doctoral thesis, ‘Homo Europaeus: Identity, bureaucracy and belonging in Brussels’ is drawn from extensive ethnographic fieldwork in and around the European Commission. I hold an MA in social sciences from the University of Chicago and BAs in English, anthropology and intellectual history from the University of Washington.

Working Groups
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

Post Doctoral Researcher University of Glasgow

Interests : Democracy Digital
Countries : France United Kingdom

Justine works as a post-doctoral researcher at the Urban Big Data Centre at the University of Glasgow. Her current research focuses on the materialisation of the ‘smart city’ and the ways in which citizens interact with data and digital infrastructures in urban spaces, as well as on the collection, use and governance of data in local contexts. Her research interests sit at the intersection of digital sociology, critical data studies, governance and urban studies.

A Progressive Framework for Remote Working: Fairness, Sustainability and Digital Inclusion

Working Groups
European Investment Bank

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the EU’s multilateral development bank. In this FEPS YAN policy study, the authors suggest four reforms that would help progressive policymakers to utilize unlock the EIB’s potential to play a greater role in the EU economy and its transition to a more resilient, climate-neutral, and progressive economy.

First, the authors suggest the EIB adopts more comprehensive lending targets based on social and environmental criteria. Second, they highlight the need for a stronger focus on equity-like instruments rather than debt instruments, especially in the ongoing response to the Covid-19 crisis. Third, they propose to strengthen the EIB’s accountability towards the European Parliament to ensure a legitimate political direction and democratic control of its activities. Fourth, they propose to convert the EIB’s retained profits into paid-in capital, unlocking up to €110 billion of additional lending capacity. To simultaneously accomplish increased democratic accountability, the authors suggest converting the EIB’s retained profits into EU capital and thus making the EU an EIB shareholder.

Read the paper:
How to unlock the European Investment Bank’s potential: four reforms

Political Mentor: EP Vice President and S&D MEP Pedro Silva Pereira
Academic Mentor: Carlo d' Ippoliti, Associate professor of political economy at the Department of Statistical Sciences of Sapienza University of Rome.

Members
Remote Work

This policy brief is an attempt to sketch out the baselines of a new progressive approach towards remote work. An approach that fosters social justice. An approach that takes seriously the promises and perils of digital transformation. Crucially, an approach that is compatible with ecological boundaries. In other words, the fact that proximity does not seem to play as big a role in shaping our world of work as it used to play does not have to go hand in hand with the erosion of workers’ rights. It does not have to exacerbate the worst excesses of digital capitalism. And it does not have to compound the destruction of the planet. These drawbacks are outcomes of political choices – not of natural laws. They are not inevitable.

Across three strategic levels, the policy proposals illustrate that progressives all across Europe have powerful strategies and tools at their disposal to prevent these outcomes: information; institutions; and labour law.

Read the paper:
A Progressive Framework for Remote Working: Fairness, Sustainability and Digital Inclusion

Political Mentor: S&D MEP Brando Benifei
Academic Mentor: Stewart Wood (Lord Wood of Anfield), Chair of the United Nations Association – UK

Members

Research fellow King's College London

Interests : Climate Democracy
Countries : Germany United Kingdom

Dr. Thomas Froehlich is a research fellow at the Department of War Studies at King's College London. His work focuses on the geopolitical implications of the global energy transition, but he is also interested in "how to get things done" in international politics. Thomas holds a Master's degree in Political Science from the University of Munich and a PhD in International Relations from King's College London, where he examined Brazil's international ethanol strategy. Thomas also works as a political risk adviser and a grassroots political organizer.

Taking the temperature of the EU Green Deal

Working Groups
EU Green Deal

The European Green Deal (EGD) aims to make Europe climate neutral by 2050 while ensuring a just transition for all. However, the EGD’s high level of ambition and broad scope is not adequately reflected in member states’ commitments, and interest groups attempt to shape the EGD according to their preferences.

Given these circumstances, how can the promise of a green and just European Green Deal be realised? To shed light on this research question, the authors of this FEPS YAN Policy Study build on insights from political economy on the influence of interest groups in policymaking. Analytically, the authors propose a framework that integrates distinct sources of power (structural vis-à-vis instrumental) and a range of political strategies (quiet vis-à-vis noisy politics).

Empirically, they study two cases central to the EGD: the ‘EU Biodiversity Diversity Strategy for 2030’ to protect nature and ecosystems; and the ‘Hydrogen Strategy’ to power a climate-neutral economy. Based on lobbying activities with members of the European Commission and the European Parliament, the authors identify key stakeholders, their framing, and strategies. The findings have important implications for understanding the interplay of relevant actors and EU institutions and their influence on European policy.

Read the paper:
Taking the temperature of the EU Green Deal

Political Mentor: S&D MEP Delara Burkhardt
Academic Mentor: Robert Ladrech, Emeritus Professor of European Politics, Keele University, UK

Members

PhD Candidate at University of Oxford

Interests : Digital Economy
Countries : Germany United Kingdom

Fabian Ferrari is a PhD candidate at the Oxford Internet Institute. His PhD thesis examines the political economy of artificial intelligence. Fabian holds an MSc in Politics and Communication from the London School of Economics and a BA in Social Sciences from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf. Fabian is also a researcher at the Fairwork Foundation, an international action-research project that is working to analyse and improve pay and conditions for platform workers across the world.

A Progressive Framework for Remote Working: Fairness, Sustainability and Digital Inclusion

Working Groups
Remote Work

This policy brief is an attempt to sketch out the baselines of a new progressive approach towards remote work. An approach that fosters social justice. An approach that takes seriously the promises and perils of digital transformation. Crucially, an approach that is compatible with ecological boundaries. In other words, the fact that proximity does not seem to play as big a role in shaping our world of work as it used to play does not have to go hand in hand with the erosion of workers’ rights. It does not have to exacerbate the worst excesses of digital capitalism. And it does not have to compound the destruction of the planet. These drawbacks are outcomes of political choices – not of natural laws. They are not inevitable.

Across three strategic levels, the policy proposals illustrate that progressives all across Europe have powerful strategies and tools at their disposal to prevent these outcomes: information; institutions; and labour law.

Read the paper:
A Progressive Framework for Remote Working: Fairness, Sustainability and Digital Inclusion

Political Mentor: S&D MEP Brando Benifei
Academic Mentor: Stewart Wood (Lord Wood of Anfield), Chair of the United Nations Association – UK

Members

PhD candidate University of Glasgow

Interests : Digital Social Europe
Countries : Italy United Kingdom

Wilko is a PhD candidate in Employment Relations at the University of Glasgow and work as Graduate Teaching Assistant within the Adam Smith Business School. His research focuses on job quality and worker representation in the context of “Industry 4.0”, with a particular focus on the role of ICTs to potentially exacerbate already existing inequalities among workers. Before commencing his doctoral studies, Wilko served as research trainee at the International Labour Organization, where he worked on “Future of Work” and “Social Dialogue” related projects. Wilko holds a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and a master’s degree in Work, market, environment, social policies and social work, both earned from the University of Bologna. During his postgraduate studies, Wilko spent one year at the University of Tartu (Erasmus Programme) and three months in Brussels to carry out research for his final dissertation at the European Trade Union Confederation.

Trade Unions and the multiple crisis of environment, society, economy and work

Working Groups
Trade Unions

This policy study focuses on trade union approaches to the multiple crises in a sector critical for the sustainability transformation: aviation. Based on empirical research, the authors find that unions, under pressure to face contradictory and complex problems, take divergent positions on societal-environmental issues and their solutions - verging from social-ecological transformation-focused to defensive stances, also in their collaboration with social movements for change.

Read the paper:
Trade Unions and the multiple crisis of environment, society, economy and work

Political Mentor: EP Vice President and S&D MEP Evelyn Regner
Academic Mentor: David Bailey, Senior Lecturer, Department of Political Science and International Studies, School of Government, University of Birmingham

Members