As we step into the New Year, it is essential to reflect on our fundamentals. Antonio Gramsci urged "the pessimism of the intellect and optimism of the will" - a challenge we must take seriously. We can see the risks with clear eyes: an increasingly frightening geopolitical environment, rising economic coercion, and escalating tensions in our neighbourhood. Yet, we must choose action over fatalism.

In the spirit of Joe Hill, the murdered American union organiser: "Don't mourn. Organise." Europe must unite, steer its own destiny, and rebuild international cooperation grounded in law, justice, and solidarity.

First, we need moral clarity and strategic calm. The European trade union movement has been unequivocal on Venezuela: military escalation is a dead end. We have condemned recent US military operations there as a breach of the UN Charter, insisting that the country's future be decided by Venezuelans themselves - through democratic and peaceful means, with free and independent trade unions able to operate without repression.
While headlines obsess over power plays elsewhere, Greenland's strategic resources and Arctic routes are becoming a new theatre of competition. Global actors are eyeing influence in ways that could reshape Europe's security and supply chains. At the same time, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza grind on with devastating human costs, yet political attention is waning and solidarity fatigue setting in. This neglect is dangerous: it erodes trust in international law and emboldens those who believe force trumps diplomacy.

European governments must reject any logic that normalises unilateral military action. Our credibility as a peace project depends on it. Europe must deploy every tool of dialogue and mediation to uphold international law and human rights, and shed all complacency about our peace and security. This is not pacifism by default; it is principled strength. Our power lies in law, legitimacy, and solidarity—not in sabre-rattling.

The threat within

The danger is not only external - it is political and ideological. Across Europe, the far right is gaining ground, feeding on fear and disinformation, and pushing an agenda that undermines democratic norms and workers' rights. Simultaneously, an emerging alliance of autocrats - from Washington via Budapest and Moscow to Beijing - is challenging the very principles of multilateralism and human rights. These forces share a common playbook: weaken democratic institutions, weaponise economic dependencies, and normalise authoritarian governance. This slide towards autocracy is further sustained by Big Tech, as global tech billionaires align with strongman leaders, funnelling money and data to the richest, propping up non-democratic structures and concentrating power in the hands of a narrow elite. Yet this trajectory is not inevitable. Progressive forces in Europe can prevail again - if they act together, uphold internationalism and solidarity, and focus on improving life for the many rather than echoing the far right's agenda.

If Europe hesitates, we risk sliding into a world where power, not law, decides the future. When figures such as former Commissioner Thierry Breton face pressure for decisions taken under their democratic mandates, our democracies risk rotting from the inside out. Our answer must be unity, solidarity, and a renewed commitment to democracy - at home and abroad.

Second, we need a plan to rebuild European industrial sovereignty that serves people and planet. A new report is blunt: of 18 key industrial sectors, only one - aerospace and defence - is in globally competitive shape. Investment has stalled, restructuring is sweeping value chains, and our competitors are surging ahead with strategic support and planning. Meanwhile, Europe too often clings to low tariffs and fiscal restraint precisely when its industrial base needs strengthening for the green and digital transitions. If we leave things to market forces, deindustrialisation and dependency will accelerate. This is not inevitable - it is a political choice.

The remedy is within reach

Europe needs a genuine industrial strategy. That means a serious investment agenda via a Multiannual Financial Framework sized to industrial needs, reformed fiscal rules that unlock public investment, and firm commitments from companies to reinvest rather than maximise shareholder payouts. It means social and local content conditionalities on all public support, so that taxpayers' money creates quality jobs at European sites with strong collective bargaining - not a race to the bottom. It means an employment protection mechanism, a SURE 2.0, to prevent irreversible industrial job losses as sectors restructure.

Such a strategy must include mandatory transition planning that links industrial policy to labour-market measures, skills development, and Just Transition pathways - because planning beats improvisation when livelihoods are at stake. It requires affordable, low-carbon energy through accelerated grid investment and fair pricing rules; competitiveness and climate ambition must reinforce each other. And it demands defending fair trade and addressing global overcapacities by strengthening the internal market's borders when rules are flouted. Strategic autonomy and strategic cooperation are not opposites; they are how we stay open on our terms.

This industrial strategy is not a technocratic wish list - it is the material foundation for Europe's capacity to act geopolitically. When our factories run, our grids are modern, our research turns into applied innovation, our young people have quality education and a bright future, and our jobs are secure and well paid, we are harder to bully, easier to partner with, and capable of leading. That is how Europe contributes to global stability: by being a reliable, rules-based actor backed by a resilient economy, collective defence, and a social model that delivers. Because delivering social justice will build the confidence that is badly needed to defeat fear. And defeating fear is the most effective antidote to populism and far-right extremism.

So here is our new year rallying call. Organise in workplaces and communities to demand investment that creates good industrial jobs. Organise to make social conditionality the rule for any public spending or support, ensuring collective bargaining and decent work underpin the transitions. Organise to protect the space for diplomacy and international law - because peace is a precondition for prosperity and workers' rights. Organise to defend fair trade and strategic autonomy, so Europe stays open but never naïve. Organise to 'arm' Europe with the tools for democratic renewal.

Gramsci's realism tells us the stakes are high; Joe Hill's injunction tells us what to do next. Don't mourn. Organise. A confident, united Europe can be an anchor of peace and a beacon of industrial renewal - if we choose it, plan it, and deliver it together.

This opinion was published in Social Europe and Euractiv