One facet of political resilience consists in the capacity of a society to react to crises in productive terms – that is to find policy solutions that keep up with previously held values like solidarity or prosperity. In some cases, even major challenges are handled without political upheavals. In others, well-to-do societies seem to be caught in lockdown when faced by the necessity of change. During recent years, the emotional component of dealing with European crises – constitutional, Eurozone, asylum and migration – has become obvious. The panel takes into perspective both collective and individual emotions and explores the mechanisms that hinder or foster productive policy making in times of stress.