The progression of extremist parties in recent elections (for example in Finland in April 2011) relaunched the debate on the rise of populism within the EU, as well as the negative attitudes of national public opinion and political leaders, on solidarity in the Eurozone or migration issues. In this context, the Notre Europe’s Policy Brief written by Yves Surel analyses the populist phenomena in an historical and theoretical perspective and describes how the EU can be the target of populism, as well as the limited responses of the European authorities.