Civil Society

Viewed with suspicion, TTIP hangs over us like a dark cloud. Deemed as a threat to social rights, welfare, the environment and constitutional sovereignty, a civil society resistance movement continues to gain traction. In light of a recent leak by Greenpeace Netherlands further exposing these threats, it is time now to reassess the state of play.

Green Parties in Europe have undergone astonishing growth and development over the past decades, but has the time now come to ask ‘Quo vadis’? An interview with Reinhard Bütikofer and Catherine Larrère by Michel Genet.

In November 2015, Romanians protested to take down a corrupt national system, and the Prime Minister with it. The tragedy of the fire at a concert in Bucharest that killed 62 and seriously injured many more has been largely blamed as the fault of the system of corruption that rots the country. In turn, it triggered massive protests, signalling that Romanian society has had enough.

The EU cannot be a credible leader on climate change when its decision makers are aware of the risks and the alternatives available, yet still refuse to take the actions needed. How much longer can we wait for politicians to catch up to the mood among civil society? An interview with Dutch Green MEP Bas Eickhout.

An interview with Danielle Paffard and Melanie Mattauch from the UK and EU branches of 350.org.

How can trust be built when 16.000 weapons of mass-destructions are faced to each other? Anda Serban is the Coordinator of ICAN Romania and reflects on her experiences with lobbying.

The professional NGO world is unable to reverse the major global trends. It can, however, prevent projects and policies by forging powerful alliances – and build alternatives.

Since enacting ambitious legislation in 2009, Scotland has been leading the way on climate change targets. But the campaign would never have been successful without the broad mobilisation of people across society, who came together to demand action. Now the activists are taking their story beyond Scottish borders, as efforts to build a European and global coalition gather momentum with Paris 2015 in sight.

The UK’s new ‘Tarpaulin Revolution,’ led by a revived Occupy movement and featuring many Greens, hopes to capture the imaginations of people across Europe – in cities and countries also suffering the impacts of inequality, austerity and ‘democracy’ weighted to benefit the 1%.

The following text was the basis for a speech to be delivered at the Summer University of the French Green party Europe Ecologie – Les Verts in Bordeaux in August 2014.