Against the backdrop of declining power of centre-left parties in EU-governments during the last decade, Dr. Ernst Hillebrand, Head of the International Policy Analysis Unit of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, analyses recent developments as well as future prospects of centre-left parties in Europe. The financial crisis has caused a more skeptical approach to neoliberal thinking, but surprisingly it has not resulted in a new electoral dominance of the centre-left. By pointing out this paradox Dr. Ernst Hillebrand explores possible reasons - political failures as well as structural changes in society - for the electoral defeats of centre-left parties since the mid-2000s.