A striking mix of left-wing and centre-right separatists, along with advocates of regionalism, are the new kingmakers in Spain after an inconclusive general election this summer. Around Europe, separatist and nationalist forces are gaining influence. What could this trend mean for Europe and what role for the EU in addressing resurfacing questions around secession?

Transnational parties promised to shake up EU politics before the European elections in 2019. Ahead of 2024, these experiments appear to have run out of road. The path towards European democracy cannot bypass national politics.

Once an opportunistic supporter of the European Green Deal, the EPP is now leading a backlash against climate politics, as its opposition to a nature restoration law most recently shows. Throughout Europe, former centre-right parties have thrown the doors of government wide open to the far right.

Progressives have historically found strong support in cities. With countries turning to the right and cities like Berlin falling out of progressive hands, progressive forces at the city-level are understandably nervous. Ahead of the Spanish local elections this month, Filipe Henrique asks if this trend could soon sweep across cities and how progressives can maintain their influence in cities.

In 2024, voters will once again have a say in the future of the EU institutions and the bloc’s future. Recent right-wing election victories hint at potential outcomes, but as Covid-19, the war in Ukraine, and the green movement have shown, rapid changes are never far in politics. In the first of a new monthly column on the European elections, Filipe Henriques examines the current political landscape and searches for reasons for optimism.

Across Europe, political landscapes are breaking apart as once dominant parties splinter and lose support. In national elections this January, the Portuguese Socialist Party defied the trend to win an absolute majority. The victory seemingly confirmed Portugal’s status as a political outlier in Europe. But a closer look at the results reveals change bubbling under the surface and likely instability to come.

Portugal heads to the polls in a week. For years an outpost for successful progressive government in the European Union, Portugal’s Socialist-led government lost its majority in late 2021. What can we expect from the snap elections? What role will Portugal’s green political forces play in shaping the country’s future?

Benoît Hamon is running to become an anti-austerity President of France, and has a plan to reform the economic governance of the European Union. But is his proposal doomed to destroy what he wants to save?

The grand coalition between the EPP, Socialists and Liberals has been declared dead. But does the institutional design of the European Union allow it to be actually over?

The aftermath of the Portuguese elections has been messy – but those who cry foul play either misunderstand how Portugal works, or are blinkered by Brexit fervour.

In a democratic Europe of the XXI century, how can a region become a country? The Catalan institutions have started a process to find out.