If there's one common theme that dominates the news today, it is that we are living in an

increasingly volatile and uncertain world.

Depending on who you ask, different threats are identified as being the graver source of danger.

But whatever the focus, security is the watchword across European politics today. Well, right along with

competitiveness, which we'll be covering in future episodes. ETIUI senior researcher Christoph

DeGries recently wrote a special foresight brief for us, in which he asks a very pertinent

question, what is the place for a socially

progressive and environmental policy agenda in a security conscious or even security-driven

Europe? Well, Christoph joins us today to break down that question and to reflect on its implications.

I'm your host, Bethany Staunton, and you're listening to ETIP podcast, Voices on World of Work.

Christoph, welcome to the show today.

Thank you for inviting me to this podcast.

Last year, you predicted that the issue of security would become the number one priority of the new EU political term, and in a broader sense than just defence.

Well, at the beginning of this year, Poland took up the presidency of the EU Council under the slogan, Security Europe.

And that is, of course, just one example where we see this priority in play.

How far back do you trace the roots of this turn towards a security mindset in Europe?

Yeah, it's a good question because I think that it's not a decision taken today or last week or last month.

In fact, in my view, it's the result of an accumulation of crisis since, let's say, 10 or 15 years already.

So we can see the financial crisis in 2010, the Euro crisis, the migration crisis. And then we saw the

terrorist attacks, the pandemic, of course, and also the multiplication of extreme events linked

to the climate change, not to say the war in Ukraine and more transatlantic diplomatic disruptions.

So the starting point of this publication is not a recent event.

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