The European Union is currently fighting on two main fronts, Covid-19 and climate change, though with skirmishes elsewhere – including migration and the rule of law. While science seems to be slowly gaining the upper hand in the fight against the pandemic, despite setbacks like the latest Omicron attack, Covid-19 continues to hold global society in its grip. But the second nut is even harder to crack. Climate change is rolling out its forces, in the form of floods, droughts, tornados and hurricanes, and striking indiscriminately. Vanhercke, Spasova et al. (2022) Social policy in the European Union: state of play 2021 Sabato et al. (2022) A ‘Social Imbalances Procedure’ for the EU --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/etui/message