Society

Democratise Firms to Save Democracy and the Planet
Have you participated in a project or program funded by Stiftung Mercator? Are you currently involved in one, or part of our team or partner network?
Then we warmly invite you to become part of the MercatorGlobe Community!
Welcome to our community network!
Sign Up for More
Under a European Union grant, Blanca Garcés, senior research fellow at the Barcelona Center for International Affairs (CIDOB), has prepared an extensive report about the living and working conditions of agricultural migrant workers in four European countries (Italy, Poland, Spain, and the Netherlands) and one African country (Morocco).
Labor of Migrant Workers in Agriculture The Cases of Five Entirely Different Countries
Europe risks losing its long-term influence in the Sahel. That will happen if the Old World countries fail to understand the driving forces of rising anticolonialism and to adapt their approaches in Africa to the new realities.
Europe Risks Losing the Sahel Unless It Comes to Understand It (As Exemplified by Mali)
Several months before the milestone Pact on Migration and Asylum enters into force and lays a basis for a large-scale reform of the bloc’s migration policy, the European Commission published another curious document on the topic. This is the first European asylum and migration management strategy It defines the priorities that will guide the agreement's implementation over the next five years.
Innovation in Migration Management. The EU searches for a new paradigm. Will it Succeed?
In the run-up to the Dutch general elections in the autumn of 2025, the question of the modernization of migration and asylum policies was raised as a topical issue. Some parties advocated a fundamental reform of the asylum system, whereby parts of the asylum procedure would take place outside the European Union and refugees would only be able to come to Europe through resettlement.
On Externalization of Asylum, with Responsibility Offloaded to Third Countries
Mark Leonard, co-founder and director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, has published an article in which he examines the political phenomenon of the ‘new right’. Some believe them to be people nostalgic for the past, but the author concludes it is no longer the case.
The New Right: Anatomy of a Global Revolution Why the Right Forces are Becoming Increasingly Popular
There is a so-called circular migration programme (also known as collective migration) that has been used in Spain for many years. Officially it is called Gestión Colectiva de las contrataciones en Origen (Collective Management of Recruitment at Origin) or GECCO. The programme is often presented as an advanced one. The European Commission even took the “Spanish model” as the basis for drawing up the EU’s directive on seasonal workers.
Circular Migration in Spain Strengths and Weaknesses of the Spanish Migration Model
Experts have over the years produced countless policy briefs, reports and documents in efforts to influence policy-makers’ decisions about EU economic policy and governance. In a special category are the expert reports officially commissioned by EU institutional actors.
How Much Do Experts’ Ideas Matter for the European Union’s Political Agenda?
It has been argued that in 2024, for the first time since the beginning of the 21st century, the number of democracies in the world exceeded the number of autocracies. According to most indicators, Europe continues to be one of the most democratic regions on the planet. The latest annual Freedom House calls it the “most free region in the world.”
Democracy in Europe: protection or reinvention How now will the continent live?
After the U.S. National Security Strategy (NSS) was made public and raised the issue of ‘civilizational erasure’ of Europe due to uncontrolled migration, the migration topic is in the spotlight again. Bernard Chappedelaine, ex adviser to the French Foreign Ministry, discusses the dangers of uncontrolled migration in his analytical brief.
The EU and the Migration Issue Will Europe Be Erased by Uncontrolled Migration?
The population of the European Union is getting older at an accelerating rate. The number of elderly people is growing in all the countries of the continent, with their birth rates falling just as rapidly. A low-probable or, more precisely, almost non-existent prospect of the latter’s recovery actually leaves the EU countries with just one way to mitigate the economic consequences of ageing: to get increasingly addicted to the migration drug. The costs of flirting with migrants are now evident to everyone in Europe.
Old World Growing Even Older What Migration and Pension Expenses Have to Do with This
The policy brief by the Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael is an internal strategic document aimed at moving the system of control over adherence to ideological guidelines and political decisions from the realm of political negotiations to the field of technocratic regulation. The authors of the study focus on systemic weaknesses of the key mechanism - the annual EU Rule of Law report.
WHAT IT TAKES TO PROTECT FUNDAMENTAL VALUES IN THE EUROPEAN UNION