A growing number of countries in Europe and beyond are pushing to ban children from social media as the harmful effects of these platforms become undeniable. Yet critics argue that keeping minors out of social media is an ineffective solution to a problem that affects adults, too.

Researchers have linked pesticides with Parkinson’s disease for decades, but EU authorisation bodies have failed to take meaningful action. Why is the EU turning a blind eye to mounting scientific evidence? Read Dirk de Bekker’s investigation:

Across Europe, wealth redistribution and affordability top citizens’ concerns. Voters’ shifting priorities reflect a frustration neither the centrist consensus nor the far right has fully owned. Could this be an opening for progressive politics?

40 years after Chernobyl, a Russian state enterprise has become the world’s most active exporter of nuclear technology. But Rosatom does more than build reactors: it launches sophisticated “public acceptance” strategies, often entrenching censorship and eschewing oversight.

Special rapporteurs on Hungary's rule of law look back on years of pushing EU institutions to act. Dive into their experience in protecting democracy, the legacy of their work, and how Orbán has contributed to shaping Europe’s far right and its approach to the Union, on our wesbite:

Israel’s war on Gaza has laid bare the limitations of the rules-based world order when the powers supposed to uphold it turn a blind eye or actively support its violations. And yet, international law remains an important tool of protest, condemnation, and memory. Interview with Jérôme Heurtaux:

After a 16-year hold on power, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán has finally been voted out in a landslide victory for the opposition Tisza party. Which dynamics drove this political shift? Read this pre-election analysis from Hungarian political scientist Dániel Oross on our website:

Ahead of Hungary’s parliamentary election, a major scandal involving systemic pollution at a Samsung battery plant near Budapest has raised questions for the ruling Fidesz party. In response, the government has escalated the rhetoric of an already polarised election campaign. Full article:

Despite having a population of just two million, the outcome of Slovenia’s parliamentary election is likely to have ripple effects well beyond its borders. As he faces a formidable challenge, can prime minister Robert Golob break Slovenia’s incumbent curse? Full article:

The EU’s Citizens’ Energy Package is out, promising to multiply community energy tenfold by 2030. But without enforcement, will it empower citizens or just greenwash the status quo? Full analysis👇

Night rail travel remains riddled with problems: a messy booking system, old carriages, and last-minute cancellations. Can Europe address these issues and make night trains reliable and accessible? Read the full article👇

After 20 years as Green mayor of a former mining town, Jean-François Caron argues political ecology must move beyond its pioneer culture and become a force of bridge builders with a governing mindset.📖 Read the full interview👇

🆕The UK Green Party has just won Gorton and Denton, with Hannah Spencer elected new MP for the area. The surge is a result of decades of grassroots work, coupled with Zack Polanski’s successful campaign. Can this momentum reshape UK politics? Read more👇

As the energy transition accelerates, fault lines are emerging within the environmental movement itself. Could these internal conflicts contribute to a fairer transition rather than slow it down?

📢 Send us your pitches! Our next print edition will explore Europe’s new demographic reality. We are looking for... ✍️ Essays and interviews 📷 Photo essays 🖌️ Comics and graphic journalism 📖 Fiction and creative nonfiction ⏰ Deadline: 24 March 2026 Learn more👇

The EU’s trade deal with Mercosur has found renewed urgency due to tensions with the US. Critics worry about environmental impact and threats to farming, but the EU needs partners to boost its independence and resist economic pressure.

📢 We’re hiring! As Communications and Outreach Intern, you will support the creation and delivery of our journal’s digital communications by drafting social media content, preparing newsletters, and producing outreach materials. Apply by 27 February 2026👇 www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/call-for-com...

Can Europe bridge its North-South divide on defence? Latvian MEP Mārtiņš Staķis and Spanish theorist Carlos Pérez explore how progressives can move beyond the “realist iron cage” and find common ground on security. 🆕Now also available in Dutch - experience the full interview in your language👇

The healthcare sector is caught in a climate paradox: it is under increasing pressure from the impact of climate change on people’s health, yet it emitted nearly twice as much CO2 as aviation in 2020. Two Catalan hospitals are trying to change things.

Energy communities are key to speeding up Europe’s shift to renewables. Yet women and FLINTA remain underrepresented in the conversation. As these projects should reshape not only how energy is produced, but also who holds power, the question of gender cannot be left out.

💡When blackouts hit Europe last year, critics incorrectly blamed renewables, using outages to attack the energy transition. This piece from @greeneujournal.bsky.social explores how and why blackouts are being weaponised in Europe’s energy debate. www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/left-in-the-...

30 years ago, Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania broke free from Soviet control and became post-communist success stories. Today, beneath the facade of modernisation, they suffer some of Europe's highest inequality levels. 🧵

🏳️‍🌈Hungary has intensified its crackdown on Pride. Prosecutors charged Budapest’s opposition mayor Gergely Karácsony for organising last June’s Pride despite a police ban. The ban aimed to divide society and weaken opponents, but it failed. Will Fidesz’s miscalculation affect the next election?

The mass protests that forced Bulgaria's prime minister to step down are a positive step towards active participation, but rebuilding mutual trust between society and state institutions is only possible through durable democratic practices.

What role can the EU play when the transatlantic alliance is faltering, authoritarianism is rising, and liberal democracy is under pressure? We asked this question of Green MEP Sergey Lagodinsky, who has lived on both sides of the Iron Curtain.

Unlike AI, humans have the ability to create what did not exist before. Still, we are increasingly delegating our thoughts and creative endeavours to machines. What are the implications for our freedom? Nina George tackles this question in her essay.

The notorious precarity of journalism has led to a less obvious problem: the profession has become exclusive to those who can endure years of poor pay. Can it be made more accessible and diverse? ✍️ @francesca-b.bsky.social

🖼️Can arts and culture help reorient collective goals towards more sustainable futures? The answer may lie in how culture shapes the direction of economies.

International law is under attack from Ukraine to Gaza to Venezuela. 🌍 As Benjamin Joyeux writes, “violence betrays the short-termism and powerlessness of those who resort to it.” Europe must champion a ‘’new’’ paradigm based on peace and non-violence.

🌱The Green Party of England and Wales’s membership has soared, now surpassing both Conservatives and Lib Dems. The surge is a result of decades of grassroots work, coupled with Zack Polanski’s successful campaign. Can this momentum reshape UK politics?

Far-right movements are capturing European culture, but “artivists” are fighting back. From Planète Boum Boum’s techno-activism in Paris to El Sistema’s music education in Greek refugee camps, they’re reclaiming culture as a space for democratic resistance. ✍️Sedera Ranaivoarinosy

🎨Creative Europe funding supports thousands of artists, but stricter greening requirements raise a question: are environmental priorities helping the cultural sector or adding another burden? ✍️Ena Hodžić

Democracy and autocracy cannot coexist. As Orwell warned: “The two creeds cannot even, for any length of time, live side by side.” The EU faces a choice: lead an alliance of democracies or watch the world order slip towards autocracy. ✍️Sam van der Staak

In 2025, Lithuanian artists forced a culture minister’s resignation through nationwide protest and a shared musical performance. This echoed a Baltic tradition where song, art, and ritual defended freedom under occupation. ✍️Agnese Logina

For 35 years, culture has been primarily valued as a driver of economic growth. But the promise that the “creative industries” would replace factory jobs has collapsed. Today, six large corporations dominate cultural production.

In the Netherlands, the disappointing result in October’s elections is casting doubts on the GreenLeft-Labour merger before it has even been completed. But all is not lost, says political scientist Simon Otjes

🛡️ The new European Democracy Shield acknowledges engagement-based algorithms pose a systemic risk to democracy – yet the Commission chooses to do nothing about it. Green MEP Alexandra Geese explains why this matters and what Europe should do instead👇

Central bank independence is under attack from the populist right, but defending it can’t mean ignoring policy failures. Better coordination between monetary and fiscal policy is needed to pursue democratic objectives. Full analysis👇

Since 2014 the Hungarian government has installed more than 2000 memorials across the country. This state funded campaign seeks to recast national memory and present the ruling Fidesz party in a favourable light. 🪡

Acting Out: Arts and Culture Under Pressure, is here!✨ Our winter edition examines how culture shapes democracy, delves into the far right’s attacks on artistic freedom, and presents new visions for cultural policy that prioritise public value over profit.

In Russia’s war on Ukraine, destruction and reconstruction happen simultaneously. Cultural heritage, once erased by Russia’s imperialism, is being recovered. Recovery requires “constant witnessing and addressing destruction on multiple levels.” Resistance is also epistemic.

Join us in Lisbon on 4 December for the launch of our Winter edition. Arts and culture help us imagine alternative futures, yet they face defunding, political pressure, and AI extraction. We will explore these challenges and ways to fight back. All info👇

Gold mining in the Ecuadorian Amazon is poisoning rivers, uprooting trees, and menacing Indigenous lives. But Kichwa women from the community of Serena have chosen to organise and resist. They created Yuturi Warmi, Ecuador’s first women-led Indigenous guard, to block miners from entering their land👇

Extreme weather is hitting harder every year, and the cost of damage is pushing governments to shift responsibility onto private insurers. In Italy and Greece, soaring premiums and shrinking coverage leave households and businesses exposed. Read the full investigation 👇

Today, Spain marks fifty years since Francisco Franco’s death. With polls showing that more than 21 per cent of Spaniards still view his era positively, a deep divide remains unresolved. Read Bianca Carrera on the incomplete transition from dictatorship👇

Europe once imagined culture as a driver of economic growth, yet this vision has narrowed our understanding of what the arts are for. The “creative industries” emerged under very different social conditions, but today’s policy agendas treat them as engine of GDP rather than as civic foundations.🪡

Hungary has erected over 2,000 monuments in a decade, costing public coffers over 150 million euros. With Fidesz aiming to reshape the past and control the future, the opposition tries to keep up with its own memorials. From Acting Out: Arts and Culture Under Pressure - out on 1st December👇

COP30 launches in Brazil’s Amazon as climate disasters rip “double digits off GDP”. Can China and the Global South fill the leadership vacuum left by Trump’s US? Full analysis by @pablocastano.bsky.social👇

Can Europe bridge its North-South divide on defence? Latvian MEP Mārtiņš Staķis and Spanish theorist Carlos Pérez explore how progressives can move beyond the “realist iron cage” and find common ground on security. Full interview by @richardwouters.bsky.social👇

Sofia’s residents have watched their city suffer under corrupt management and pollution for decades. However, Bulgaria’s “transition generation” refuses to wait for change. They are taking matters into their own hands, transforming neglected spaces into ecological havens.🪡