In the recent European elections, only one European citizen in two bothered to cast their vote. But even though often considered second-rate elections, they did bring worrying news: an emboldened far right, and a centre-right that looks like the real winner. Social Democrats have held their ground, while liberals, greens and the left have shrunk. In our Special Coverage, EU 2024: the unpredictable well-known, we analyse the results and attempt to predict what to expect from this new, more right-leaning, European Parliament. Elections are also at the core of the Dossier on Protecting democracy from digital disinformation where our authors illustrate the threats that AI and ever-more-sophisticated digital manipulations can pose to democratic processes.

This time, our Focus on A single market with a social face departs from former Italian prime minister Enrico Letta's report on the EU's internal market, its weaknesses and possible reforms to see how it can be boosted without further increasing inequalities and by supporting social and territorial cohesion.

In the second Dossier, Housing is a human right, we delve into a crisis that has gripped most European urban areas, hitting not just the most vulnerable sectors of society but – increasingly – the middle classes: adequate housing. Housing is not (yet) a European competence, but there are strong reasons to make it one.