PhD. Research Contracts Associate in Research Services at the University of Oxford
Interests : Democracy EU external relations
Countries : United Kingdom

Dr Nuve Yazgan is a Research Contracts Associate in Research Services at the University of Oxford. She previously worked as a Research Consultant at Fully Fact and held research positions at the Nottingham Institute of Education, Nottingham Trent University, and the Department of Government at the University of Essex. She completed her PhD in Politics at the University of Surrey in December 2021. Her research interests included European public policy, Greek politics, and Greek–Turkish relations. She has published in a range of academic journals.

Publications
Avoiding Renovictions in European Cities

Europe faces a dual challenge: the climate crisis and a persistent housing crisis, both of which converge in the urgent need to renovate aging urban housing stock. While energy-efficient renovations are essential to meet EU carbon-neutrality targets by 2050, they risk triggering “renovictions”, the displacement of vulnerable residents due to rising rents and property values. This policy study shows how these renovictions can be avoided.

This policy study summarise the scientific literature and survey best practices and cautionary tales from three cities across Europe: Amsterdam; Athens; and Paris. These are three large capitals, with historic centres protected by heritage status and facing the pressure of (over)tourism.

Read the Policy Study

Academic Mentor: Eunice Goes, Professor of Politics at Richmond University in London
Political Mentor: Andreas Schieder, Member of the European Parliament and S&D Coordinator of HOUS Sub Committee

Members
Postdoctoral Fellow at the Université Libre de Bruxelles
Interests : Climate History
Countries : Belgium
PhD in History from the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
Interests : Democracy History
Countries : France Italy
PhD. Research Contracts Associate in Research Services at the University of Oxford
Interests : Democracy EU external relations
Countries : United Kingdom
Publications
20/07/2026

Avoiding renovictions in European cities

FEPS YAN papers 9th cycle
Doctoral researcher in Comparative Politics and a lecturer at the University of Cologne
Interests : Democracy Foreign Affairs
Countries : Germany United Kingdom Turkey

Ece Özbey is a doctoral researcher in Comparative Politics and a lecturer at the University of Cologne, where she is pursuing her PhD on populist contagion and anti-populism in the United Kingdom. Her research spans Euroscepticism, political competition, radicalization, and democracy, with a primary focus on European democracies. She holds an MSc in European Studies and a BSc in International Relations. Ece is also the Co-Managing Editor of the Review of Democracy, the journal of the Central European University’s Democracy Institute, where she previously worked as a Global Forum for Democracy and Development Fellow. She is affiliated with the METU Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence and has published on European integration and EU–Turkey relations. She has also held visiting positions at academic institutions in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Chile and is actively involved in various international research networks, including OPUS Initiative and Team Populism

Publications
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 : Democracy Foreign Affairs Inequality
Countries : Belgium Spain United Kingdom
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
PhD Candidate University of Surrey
Interests : Democracy EU external relations
Countries : United Kingdom Turkey

Dilay holds degrees in Economics and Political Science, as well as an MSc in Political Science and Public Administration from the Middle East Technical University (METU), Turkey. She is currently pursuing her PhD in the UK, where she also holds Associate Fellowship at the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA). Before starting her doctoral studies at the University of Surrey’s Department of Politics, Dilay gained professional experience in both academia and the civil society sector, working as an academic assistant and an NGO officer. Her interdisciplinary background in economics, political science, and cultural studies shapes her current research, which examines how Populist Radical Right Parties (PRRPs) impact mainstream political parties’ positions on gender-related issues.

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 : Democracy Policy
Countries : Greece
PhD Candidate University of Surrey
Interests : Democracy EU external relations
Countries : United Kingdom Turkey
PhD in Media, Communication and Culture at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Interests : Democracy Policy
Countries : Spain
PhD candidate in Economics at KU Leuven
Interests : Economy Democracy
Countries : Belgium Italy
Research associate and PhD candidate at FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg
Interests : Democracy Policy
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

Senior Research Fellow at University of Warwick, UK. 

Interests : Policy EU external relations
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.  

Publications
Toward a progressive geopolitical EU

Principles and recommendations

In the face of a rapidly evolving geopolitical landscape, marked by global tensions and environmental challenges, this report outlines the evolution of the EU towards a geopolitical union. With the 2024 European elections approaching, the report proposes principles, which, taken together, provide for a dynamic, applicable framework that serves as a basis for practical engagement and policy formulation in fostering a progressive EU geopolitics.

Read the policy study

Political Mentor: Andreas Schieder, S&D MEP and Co Chair of Global Progressive Forum
Academic Mentor: Dimitris Tsarouhas. Professor of International Affairs. Global Fellow, The Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars

Members
Publications
13/05/2024

Toward a progressive geopolitical EU

FEPS YAN Series

Joint PhD at the University of Edinburgh and KU Leuven

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

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

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

Publications
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
Publications
25/01/2022

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

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

Publications
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
Publications
01/03/2024

Next Left Vol. 15

Progressive Ambition: How to shape Europe in the next decade
08/11/2022

Building resilient democracies

Challenges and solutions across the globe
27/09/2022

Enduring values

How progressives across Europe can win
25/01/2022

The European Basic Income – Delivering on Social Europe

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.

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
28/03/2022

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

FEPS YAN
28/06/2019

Acting European: Identity, Belonging and the EU of Tomorrow

13/06/2019

The 2019 Lok Sabha elections: Race for Power: Major Campaign Issues

11/06/2019

The New Indian Government

16/04/2019

The 2019 Lok Sabha elections II

16/04/2019

The 2019 Lok Sabha elections I

05/04/2019

India and South Asia Dossier: March 2019

28/02/2019

India and South Asia Dossier: February 2019

04/02/2019

India and South Asia Dossier: December 2018 - January 2019

03/12/2018

India and South Asia: November 2018 Dossier

22/11/2018

India and South Asia Dossier: October 2018

05/10/2018

India and South Asia: September 2018 Dossier

05/09/2018

India and South Asia: July-August 2018 Dossier

03/05/2018

INDIA AND SOUTH ASIA: APRIL 2018 DOSSIER

15/03/2018

India and South Asia: February 2018 Dossier

16/01/2018

India and South Asia: December 2017 Dossier

06/12/2017

India and South Asia: November 2017 Dossier

17/11/2017

India and South Asia: October 2017 Dossier

24/10/2017

India and South Asia: September 2017 Dossier

10/07/2017

Urbanised migration

Rethinking the dispersal process to help us find a progressive answer to refugee arrivals
09/10/2014

South Asia: July dossier

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

Publications
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
Publications
09/02/2022

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

Research fellow King's College London

Interests : Democracy Climate
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

Publications
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