Socialists and Democrats: Take a Left

Europe’s housing crisis is no longer a distant concern, it’s here, and it’s urgent. What concrete steps should come next? In this episode, we bring together S&D VP Gaby Bischoff and Commissioner Dan Jørgensen to explain how the European Parliament and the Commission can work hand in hand to deliver solutions. From the Parliament’s report on the housing crisis to the Commission’s affordable housing plan, this conversation focuses on turning joint ambition into concrete action. New episode out now — subscribe to stay updated on the future of housing in the EU

High time for us to stand up for ourselves. What will it take for the EU to stand on its own two feet and be independent of the USA? New podcast on the EU-USA relationship, with Kathleen Van Brempt, out now.

What can the EU do about the cost of having a home? Quite a bit, actually. We spoke to Aodhán Ó Ríordáin about making housing a right, not an object of speculation. We spoke about how to provide affordable housing again and how to end homelessness.

Orbán banned pride. But we went anyway. In our latest podcast, we sat down with Marc Angel, who joined the march along with 200,000 Hungarians. We talked about freedom, tolerance, sex education, and the fight for equality.

Housing is a human right. But it's too often simply a commodity. In this episode of our podcast, we sit down with Andreas Schieder, Member of the European Parliament and S&D spokesperson on housing, to tackle one of the most urgent issues facing people across Europe: affordable housing. From rent hikes and speculation to social housing and EU-level solutions, we explore what’s being done—and what still needs to happen—to guarantee the right to housing for all.

We need to put feminism at the heart of everything we do. And not allow not even one step back. Lina Gálvez MEP is the chair of the EU Parliament’s women’s rights committee. Here she is in conversation with Delara Burkhardt MEP for S&D In Progress.

After Hamas' terrorist attack on October 7, it's been over a year of Israel's indiscriminate attacks on Gaza. Israel has bombed schools, hospitals and killed so many innocent people in Gaza, including thousands of children. In the West Bank and Jerusalem and now Lebanon, Netanhayu's campaign of revenge continues. It's a bleak picture. But there are some working for peace. In the latest podcast, we spoke to our president about the world's double standards, and an Israeli and a Palestinian working for peace.

We refuse to let Elon Musk and friends set the rules online. The internet is a public space and a public good. We sat down with our MEPs Alex Saliba, Christel Schaldemose and Laura Ballarín in our latest podcast to discuss UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres' call for the enforcement of worldwide norms.

What's it like to be catapulted from your country to Brussels/Strasbourg to work as a MEP? We sat down with new MEPs Chloé Ridel and Thomas Bajada to unpack their first experiences in this new edition of our podcast.

New EU disability cards are a milestone moment. In our latest podcast, we discussed the fight for a more equal Union. With João Albuquerque, Olivia Iglesias, Laura Coccia and Marie Denninghaus.

It's been two years since Putin started his war of aggression against Ukraine. Two years of terror, bloodshed and destruction. Today Ukraine continues to stand strong against the Russian aggressor, but there is a risk of “Ukraine fatigue” seeping in amongst some allies. Not in the S&D Group! In our latest podcast, with Pedro Marques and Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz, we discuss the situation in Ukraine, why Europe must step up its assistance and our work to support the country rebuild itself and join the EU.

We're fighting to define rape as sex without consent on an EU level. Because only yes means yes. We spoke to Evin Incir MEP, Kristine Holst and Pina Picerno MEP about the fight to include a consent-based definition of rape in the EU's ending gender-based violence directive.

With the social union, we're protecting people from the challenges of our time. We spoke to Agnes Jongerius, Esther Lynch and Teresa Ribera about making the economy work for the workers, not just the bosses.

Polish people voted for change, to stop the autocratic drift by PiS and to bring Poland back to its rightful place: the heart of Europe. We spoke to Robert Biedron and Prof Marek Belka in Strasbourg about how to start cleaning up the mess after 8 dark years of PiS rule.

Three former IDF soldiers built spyware - Pegasus - that allows governments to spy on journalists, opposition politicians - anyone they don't like. The European Parliament set up the PEGA committee to investigate, leading to a report calling for pan-European legislation to protect our fundamental rights ✊ 🇪🇺

With a progressive majority, we passed the Nature Restoration Law. We spoke to César Luena and Mohammed Chahim about the fight to protect Europe's nature in the latest episode of our podcast.

The Troubles, Northern Ireland’s bloody conflict, claimed the lives of over three and a half thousand people. But then, it ended. The late John Hume won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in bringing about the Good Friday Agreement, a revolutionary peace accord. We spoke to Claire Hanna MP in Belfast and our MEPs in Brussels about the EU's role in bringing peace, and the future for Northern Ireland and Europe.

AI is here. How do we make sure it helps people be more free? How do we protect workers and consumers? We discussed the progressive response to AI in our latest podcast.

We don’t have the power to end forced labour around the world tomorrow. But we are the largest market in the world, and as such the EU has a lot of power. We can stop the EU from importing such products, and by doing so end the shameful practice of forced labour. The Commission has proposed a new law to prevent products made with forced labour from entering the EU market. In our latest podcast we discuss the law and the changes we want to see to make it watertight.

We thought the far right in power was something consigned to history. But now they're back in government, with the support of the so called moderate right and centrists.

How is it even possible that energy prices are rocketing while we can't pay our bills? Should you speculate on energy? Should you speculate on bread and food? We sat down with Mohammed Chahim and Biljana Borzan to discuss the solution to the energy price crisis.

Apparently fossil gas and nuclear are green energy sources, or at least that's what the European Commission recently forced through. But Paul Tang remains optimistic about the battle to make finance sustainable. We interviewed him in Brussels for the latest episode of Take a Left.

June is pride month and what better occasion to talk about equal rights for LGBTQ+ people and keep raising political awareness on the current issues the community is still facing. We talked about LGBT issues and initiatives across the EU with Marc Angel, Robert Biedroń and Katrin Hugendubel.

Huge companies control the internet, changing the rules to suit themselves. It's hardly a market. We spoke to René Repasi about what we're doing to regulate "the digital wild west" in our latest podcast.

Self regulation has failed. Now it's time for the EU to ensure companies check their value chains for human rights abuses and environmental failures.

Over the last year, people from across the EU took part in one of the biggest democratic projects in history. The Conference on the Future of Europe just presented its proposals to the EU. It remains to be seen which are taken into account and actually implemented. We are committed to taking their ideas forward and making them a reality. We’ll keep fighting to turn these proposals into reality. Social progress and making people’s lives better has to be the end goal. We spoke to Gaby Bischoff and Iratxe García Pérez about this exciting exercise, and what happens now.

"We don't want to create a ministry of truth, but we do need to protect our open society from foreign hostile actors." Russia's war on Ukraine throws into sharp relief the need to counter foreign interference and disinformation. We spoke with Raphaël Glucksmann MEP and Andreas Schieder MEP about the findings of the EU Parliament's Special Committee on Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the EU, including Disinformation.

It's halfway between EU elections and great chance to reflect on what we've achieved - and what's left to do. We caught up with S&D President, Iratxe García Pérez, and Vice President Pedro Marques about to reflect on the challenges ahead.

Platforms circumvent labour laws, exploiting their workers. The only way we can really make a difference is by changing the social legislation, according to Agnes Jongerius, who is working on an EU level to ensure that platforms treat their workers as workers.

Was COP26 a catastrophic failure or a landmark achievement? What should progressives push for in climate talks? We spoke to Mohammed Chahim about why he's cautiously optimistic.

Natural gas costs five times more than last year and ordinary people are bearing the brunt of the price hike. What can governments do? What can the EU do? We spoke to Dan Nica MEP and Anna Martin from BEUC to understand the crisis and what has to happen now.

The SPD's dramatic comeback is encouraging social democrats across Europe. We spoke to Jens Geier and Udo Bullman about how it happened, and what it means for Europe.

"Abortion is a difficult choice, probably the most difficult choice possible ... but it must remain a choice," said Mr Fred Matic, the MEP who authored an historic resolution on sexual health and reproductive rights. Despite firm opposition, we passed a resolution calling on all EU member states to decriminalise abortion and ensure full Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. Here's how we did it. Interviews with Fred Matic MEP and Camille Butin, IPPF. This is the first episode of Take a Left, a podcast from the Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament.