Mobility is a basic human need. Over the last 100 years, the automobile has revolutionised the transport of people and goods. The automotive industry is a core industrial sector employing millions of people in Germany, Europe and the world. The trade unions in the metal sector are strong and powerful organisations without which the enforcement of social rights would have been impossible. But the costs and irreversible damage caused by the fossil fuel era are now undeniable. The technology based on the burning of fossil fuels is reaching its ...
read more "The Transformation of the Global Automotive Industry"
Lukas Schön, Ralf Suikat, Christian Leye, Amira Mohamed Ali and Sarah Wagenknecht stand next to each other before the press conference on the founding of BĂŒndnis Sahra Wagenknecht, 23 October 2023.
Lukas Schön, Ralf Suikat, Christian Leye, Amira Mohamed Ali and Sarah Wagenknecht stand next to each other before the press conference on the founding of
Lukas Schön, Ralf Suikat, Christian Leye, Amira Mohamed Ali and Sarah Wagenknecht stand next to each other before the press conference on the founding of BĂŒndnis Sahra Wagenknecht, 23 October 2023.
Lukas Schön, Ralf Suikat, Christian Leye, Amira Mohamed Ali and Sarah Wagenknecht stand next to each other before the press conference on the founding of
Sahra Wagenknecht’s decision to leave Die Linke brings clarity, but at a high costFollowing years of turmoil, a resolution has finally been reached inside Die Linke, the democratic socialist party in the German parliament closely linked to the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation. Sahra Wagenknecht, previously Die Linke’s parliamentary co-speaker and one of its best-known faces, announced her resignation from the party on Monday together with nine other MPs. They will now form a new organization, BĂŒndnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW), to prepare the launch of a new party in early 2024....
read more "“A Heavy Blow”"
Protest against the plannen Reform of the Common European Asylum System, Berlin September 2023.
Protest against the plannen Reform of the Common European Asylum System, Berlin September 2023.IMAGO / IPON
Last spring, millions of Ukrainian civilians fleeing the Russian invasion of their country settled across the European Union. They were welcomed with open arms, given places to live, jobs to work, and were generally the object of unconditional solidarity whether in Poland, Germany, or Spain. Yet Europe’s attitude towards other migrants and refugees has been less forgiving. Tens of thousands of migrants drown in the Mediterranean Sea every year while attempting to reach Southern Europe, and an increasingly xenophobic tone dominates European politics as ...
read more "Is the CEAS Reform a Tipping Point?"
Groups fighting for energy democracy at all levels of society are leading resistance and remedies towards a better future. Profit-driven energy models have escalated the climate crisis, failed to decarbonise our energy systems, and do not provide universal access to clean, affordable energy. We need to unite globally to transition to public energy systems rooted in justice, solidarity and democracy. The global energy democracy movement recognises that the energy transition is an urgent opportunity to reclaim our energy systems from the market and put ...
read more "Energy Democracy Movement Declaration"
SPOE supporters celebrate at party headquarters in Madrid on election night, 23 July 2023.
SPOE supporters celebrate at party headquarters in Madrid on election night, 23 July 2023.IMAGO / ZUMA Wire
The Left recently caused quite a surprise in Spain. On 23 July 2023, early elections were held to elect a new parliament (congress of deputies and senate) and while the polls predicted a clear victory for the right and the far right, the social-democratic left and the radical left managed to beat the forecasts. The left- and right-wing blocs were very close in terms of voting percentages and it is not yet clear if a government will be successfully formed or whether new elections will have to be called. On 22 August, King Felipe VI asked the ...
read more "What Can the Left Learn from the Spanish Elections?"
The struggle for women's rights has always generated reactionary waves from all those who refuse to question their privileges, relinquish power and unsettle the patriarchal structures on which capitalism is based. The far right, intent on reversing social policies and agreements on human rights as well as halting any progress being made, has put into action a whole raft of strategies being implemented across the globe. In Spain, opposition to feminism used to be rooted mainly in a religious and ...
read more "The Spanish far-right’s strategies to oppose women’s rights and social advances"
Der Vorsitzende der BĂŒrgerkoalition Donald Tusk spricht am Abend der Parlamentswahlen in Polen Oktober 15, 2023, Warschau.
Der Vorsitzende der BĂŒrgerkoalition Donald Tusk spricht am Abend der Parlamentswahlen in Polen Oktober 15, 2023, Warschau.IMAGO / ZUMA Wire
Martin Schirdewan, co-chair of The Left in the European Parliament.
Martin Schirdewan, co-chair of The Left in the European Parliament.The Left via Flicker
A conversation with Martin Schirdewan, co-chair of The Left in the European ParliamentIn a little under a year, from 6 to 9 June 2024, elections to the European Parliament will be held across all 27 European Union member-states. A lot is up for grabs. The last five years have been turbulent ones in the EU, with the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing economic recession — coming only a decade after the last major economic crisis — compelling the European Commission to establish the Recovery and Resilience Facility, a 750-billion-euro fund ...
read more "“It’s about the Sustainability of This Continent”"
Refugees trying to cross the Greek-North Macedonian borders to follow the Balkan Route.
Refugees trying to cross the Greek-North Macedonian borders to follow the Balkan Route.IMAGO / NurPhoto
MEP Cornelia Ernst looks back on her time fighting for refugee rights in EuropeDuring the summer slump, and 30 years after the right of asylum was restricted in the German constitution, Thorsten Frei, an MP for the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), could think of nothing better than suggesting that this fundamental human right be struck from Germany’s Basic Law altogether. Get rid of the right to asylum, replace it with a quota solution (with absolutely no basis in either human rights or constitutional law), he suggested. Eliminating this...
read more "Thirty Years of Struggle for a Humane Asylum Policy"