WDR European Forum
Forum 2025
27th International WDR European Forum 2025
What now ? Europe and the attack on democracy
It is a political earthquake – just a few weeks after the new administration of US President Donald Trump took office, the transatlantic partnership is eroding. And the EU, the self-proclaimed champion of peace, prosperity and cooperation, is reeling. How can the European project survive without the leading Western power? The 27th WDR Europaforum will be looking for answers in early summer 2025.
From a European perspective, it is the biggest case of damage that can be assumed: in the USA, originally the self-declared patron saint of the transatlantic community of values, a convicted lawbreaker and self-confessed system disrupter is getting serious. Regardless of the consequences, Trump is turning the West’s oldest democracy to the right. At the same time, he and his paladins are getting rid of traditional common ground with Europeans at breathtaking speed, and not just in terms of defence and trade. Europe is literally stunned. It is struggling to find ways and means to guarantee its own security and prosperity through its own efforts.
‘We need a Europe that is capable of acting, especially in these times, which are not getting calmer, but rougher.’
Ursula von der Leyen
President of the European Commission | 26th WDR Europaforum 2024
In Germany, the economically strongest and politically most stable EU country to date, the successors to the collapsed coalition with the traffic light system are having to cope with an unprecedented gap between popular expectations and real possibilities.
There is no question of the nationalists making a breakthrough on the continent – as the European elections and the Bundestag elections have shown – but there are signs of threatening gains. In these times of increasing wars and crises, growing sections of the electorate in Europe and Germany are becoming increasingly fond of the simple recipes of demagogues and extremists. They are getting involved everywhere, in the EU itself and in its international environment. The willingness to enforce interests by means of power, violence and, ultimately, war is growing.
All of this weakens the cohesion of the Union as well as its political weight in the global competition between systems.
For decades, Europe was a role model for many regions in the world, synonymous with stability and economic success. That’s where they wanted to be. But the image has changed – suddenly the representatives of this imposing idea have their backs to the wall. And not just from the perspective of the major powers China and Russia, which the EU has officially designated as ‘system rivals’. The idea of an ever closer union is also being questioned within the EU itself.
The more the EU has to do to mend internal rifts, the more difficulty it has in translating its economic clout into political clout. The promise that ‘we citizens of the European Union are united in our happiness’ no longer holds water. Authoritarian models, on the other hand, are on the rise, for example in the BRICS states or in the informal camp of the ‘global South’.
In this situation, the EU is called upon to fight for its understanding of liberal democracy, social and constitutional standards and co-operative peacefulness:
How can the ‘European model’ survive in the international competition between systems?
How is honest political mediation possible in the face of all the crises?
How can the European immune defence against authoritarian populists, fake news propaganda and asymmetric warfare be strengthened?
And what is actually left of the European integration project under the current circumstances? How can it be updated?
The upcoming WDR Europaforum on 26, 27 and 28 May 2025 is looking for answers under the title
What now ? Europe and the attack on democracy
Among the participants, we are once again expecting numerous top representatives from German and European politics as well as recognised experts from science, culture and the media.
‘The AfD or right-wing parties in Europe don't talk to young people and don't want to solve the problems.’
Robert Habeck
Minister of Economic Affairs | 26th WDR Europaforum 2024
The WDR Europaforum will once again take place as part of the re:publica social congress at the STATION am Gleisdreieck in Berlin. Further parts of the programme are expected to come from Brussels and Strasbourg.
Das WDR Europaforum wurde live im WDR-Fernsehen übertragen und online im Livestream gezeigt. Die Sendung ist in der Mediathek verfügbar.