EU Democracy Reform Observatory: Two years on: Why Europe’s far right keeps growing
YouTube, 11.06.2026
Online Briefing
Two years on from the 2024 European Parliament elections, the political landscape had not evolved as many expected. Hopeful narratives of far-right decline – centred on government backlash, internal divisions, the Trump effect, and von der Leyen’s strategy of selective normalisation – failed to materialise, while the far right continued to grow.
Based on a recent EPC publication, this event addressed political trends two years after the EU elections, focusing on how far-right parties had continued to consolidate their positions across Europe, while mainstream strategies to contain them had yielded limited results. If the trends had continued into the next European elections, the pro-EU majority might not have stood.
This event was held in the framework of the EU Democracy Reform Observatory, which aims to stimulate debates in Brussels and beyond on the overall future of European integration.
Speakers: Janis A. Emmanouilidis, Deputy Chief Executive & Director of Studies, European Policy Centre; Javier Carbonell, Policy Analyst, European Policy Centre; Daphne Halikiopoulou, Chair in Comparative Politics, University of York; Tabea Schaumann, Junior Policy Analyst, European Policy Centre
Moderator: Jacki Davis, Senior Adviser, European Policy Centre
Link to video on YouTube here
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