The world has changed dramatically in the last few years. We are seeing the erosion of the international rules-based order, the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation are worsening faster than expected, and security becoming a central focus in all policies. In addition, we are facing intersecting EU-specific challenges. The EU has shown strength, unity and transformative resilience in responding to recent crises. However, the scale and complexity of the challenges ahead require a proactive and forward-looking approach. 2025 Strategic Foresight Report presents "Resilience 2.0", an approach to ensuring the EU thrives in turbulent times through 2040 and beyond. It builds on the recent European Preparedness Strategy and recognises the need to scan proactively not only for emerging risks but also for future opportunities, and to consider unfamiliar or even hard-to-imagine scenarios.
Intersecting EU-specific challenges
📌The simultaneous quest for economic competitiveness and strategic autonomy: requiring careful policy design to mitigate possible tensions.
📌Balancing the approach to technology: ensuring an EU values-based innovation model.
📌Pressures on people’s well-being and societal resilience: addressing demographic trends, regional disparities, demands on physical and mental health, and risks to the environment.
📌Threats to democracy and fundamental values: addressing external and internal pressures on democracy, algorithm-driven polarisation, and disinformation.
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