How To Build An Abundance Movement in Europe
Stagnation has held the continent back for too long.
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In the United States, the “abundance agenda” has emerged as a rallying cry for revitalizing economic dynamism: streamlining regulations, accelerating infrastructure, and unleashing innovation to deliver widespread prosperity. This approach recognizes that liberal democracy falters when it fails to provide tangible progress, breeding resentment and populist backlash.
Europe, meanwhile, faces a parallel crisis. Persistent shortages in housing and infrastructure are eroding public trust, fueling the rise of far-right parties. As of early 2026, with economic growth sluggish at around 1% EU-wide and populist momentum showing no signs of abating, an abundance-oriented strategy—one that is centered on pro-growth policies and targeted deregulation—offers a path to reclaiming liberalism’s promise of opportunity for all.
Europe’s shortages are structural failures that exacerbate inequality and alienate voters. Housing affordability has deteriorated sharply over the past decade, with average house prices rising by more than 60% EU-wide since 2010 and rents surging by 30%. In high-demand cities like Berlin, Paris, and Amsterdam, young professionals and lower-income families spend upwards of 40% of their disposable income on housing, far exceeding the EU average of 9% for energy poverty alone.
Building permits—a key indicator of future supply—have plummeted since 2021, declining by around 20% across the EU by 2024, with steeper drops in Germany (43% between 2021 and 2024) and Austria (over 40%). The COVID-19 aftershocks, high financing costs, and regulatory bottlenecks have compounded this, leaving an estimated housing demand gap of 925,000 units in 2025.
This stagnation is also reflected in infrastructure. Europe’s energy transition, while ambitious, has exposed vulnerabilities: grid congestion, delayed transport projects, and underinvestment in utilities have driven up costs and slowed deployment. For instance, per-kilometer rail construction in Germany and Portugal is cheaper than in the United States, but cross-border delays and regulatory complexity persist.
The European Commission estimates that 82 million households—about a third of the EU’s total—are overburdened by accommodation costs, while competitiveness is further hindered by broader infrastructure gaps in clean energy and transport. These shortages are not evenly distributed; urban “magnet cities,” where demand outpaces supply, bear the brunt, leading to overcrowding and social strain.
This scarcity mindset has become fertile ground for populism. Across Europe, housing and infrastructure frustrations are increasingly linked to right-wing and even far-right gains. Research from the Progressive Politics Research Network shows that dramatic rent increases and affordability crises erode support for center-left parties, pushing voters toward anti-establishment alternatives. In regions where house prices stagnate or fall relative to national averages, lower-income voters turn to populist right-wing parties, which exploit these issues by blaming immigrants for resource competition.
For example, in Germany and the Netherlands, centrist governments faced backlash in the 2025 elections over unmet housing promises, while far-right groups like Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the Dutch Party for Freedom (PVV) gained traction by tying shortages to migration. Studies confirm this pattern: soaring rents correlate with up to 6 percentage point increases in far-right support in affected areas, from Greek islands during the 2015 refugee crisis to urban France today.
The parallels with the United States are striking. There, housing shortages in coastal cities and infrastructure delays have fueled discontent, contributing to populist surges like Trumpism. In both contexts, perceived scarcity breeds zero-sum thinking: “There’s not enough to go around, so outsiders must be the problem.” Europe’s version is more insidious, interwoven with the continent’s migration debates and post-pandemic recovery.
As UN experts warned in 2024, failing to address housing risks amplifying far-right narratives, turning a social crisis into a political one. In Ireland, far-right actors have explicitly linked housing shortages to immigration, creating resonant narratives amid persistent structural issues. This dynamic threatens liberal democracy’s core: when institutions fail to deliver basics like shelter and reliable infrastructure, citizens lose faith, opening doors to authoritarian appeals.
An abundance agenda for Europe must confront these failures head-on, prioritizing pro-growth strategies that reduce barriers to building and innovation. The EU’s first-ever Affordable Housing Plan, unveiled in December 2025, marks a promising start. Structured around four pillars—boosting supply, mobilizing investment, enabling reforms, and supporting the vulnerable—it aims to slash red tape, unlock public funding, and address short-term rental companies like Airbnb, which exacerbate scarcity in tourist hotspots.
The plan accelerates from 2026, proposing revisions to state aid rules for broader housing support and a Pan-European Investment Platform, potentially saving billions in speculative pressures. By earmarking €19.6 billion from the Recovery and Resilience Facility for affordable housing, it signals a shift toward results-oriented governance.
Deregulation, thoughtfully applied, is key. Europe’s “vetocracy”—layers of permitting, environmental reviews, and local vetoes—has stifled progress. Streamlining these without sacrificing standards could accelerate deployment: for housing, it would mean faster approvals for modular construction and repurposing vacant spaces; for infrastructure, simplified EU-wide tenders for green energy grids and transport. Some national examples show promise in this area: Germany’s proposed €500 billion fund for grids, transport, and defense aims to boost state capacity, while Denmark’s model of centralized planning has mitigated some shortages. Pro-growth reforms should balance environmental goals with speed—e.g. earmarking more carbon market revenues for the Social Climate Fund, expected at €65 billion from 2026-2032, to support vulnerable households in transition.
Critics warn of a race to the bottom, but abundance liberalism isn’t neoliberal deregulation; it’s about enabling building while upholding rights. As EU Commissioner Teresa Ribera emphasized in 2026, high standards in green and digital sectors drive competitiveness, not hinder it. By fostering innovation ecosystems—e.g. through the New European Bauhaus for sustainable design—the EU can create jobs in construction and low-carbon tech, countering populist zero-sum frames. This requires €363 million in annual savings from regulatory simplification, as per the 2025 chemicals omnibus, extended to housing and infrastructure.
Comparatively, Europe’s mixed systems—which enable, for example, stronger national planning in Nordic countries than would be possible under U.S.-style localism—offer advantages. Yet without action, stagnation persists: ING forecasts only 1.5% construction growth in 2026, after flatlining in 2025. An abundance approach could flip this and deliver optimism.
Europe’s shortages are not inevitable; they stem from regulatory inertia and underinvestment. By embracing pro-growth deregulation—streamlining permits, mobilizing funds, and prioritizing abundance—liberal democracies can reclaim the narrative from populists. This isn’t just economic policy; it’s a defense of liberalism itself, ensuring it delivers not just rights, but results. As 2026 unfolds, the time for bold reforms is now. Failure risks more than economic lag—it endangers the open society Europe has built.
Jesper Steenstrup Vogelius is a Danish political consultant based in Copenhagen.
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