Resilience of the EU’s Periphery vis-à-vis Social Tipping Points: Policy Recommendations

The final section provides policy recommendations for dealing with social tipping points from the perspective of the EU periphery. First, we recommend not focusing on governing social tipping points per se, but rather on governing their side effects. Second, we recommend strengthening state capacity in all of its aspects. Third, we recommend that the state and society as a whole invest more resources into strengthening the resilience of transnational, private, as well as local non-state actors as it also enhances their respective capacities and resilience. Fourth, we advise pooling more resources into building a more resilient EU. Fifth, it is suggested that not only is the periphery dependent on the well-functioning EU, but the EU’s resilience also requires a fortified periphery given the deep interconnectedness between the geographical core and periphery. Lastly, we recommend that policymakers and key stakeholders alter their methodological starting points from purely social ones to ones taking into account the whole inter-dynamics of social–ecological systems.