ESPAS – at the heart of EU foresight
2025 ESPAS Annual Conference
"Europe towards 2040: Charting a course in a new era of conflict and competition"
Thursday 13 November 2025
The European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS) annual conference took place in Brussels on Thursday 13 November. Co-hosted by the European Commission and the European Parliament, over 200 participants gathered to debate “Europe towards 2040: Charting a course in a new era of conflict and competition”.
The speakers at this 12th annual ESPAS Conference shed light on some of the fundamental challenges Europe will face in the fields of technology, geopolitics, democracy, foresight, and intergenerational fairness. The conference explored possible scenarios for charting a course towards 2040.
The aim of ESPAS is to help European Union policymakers prepare better for the shocks and opportunities that come our way, but also to offer a structured approach with practical tools to look beyond today's challenges. This annual ESPAS conference with leading political figures, civil society representatives, policy experts and foresight practitioners offered a unique platform to bring foresight and policymaking together in a European context. It also provided a significant and timely opportunity to explore new ideas for Europe's future, and to help shape its priorities for the coming decades.
ESPAS 20225 Conference
Morning session
ESPAS 20225 Conference
Evening session
About ESPAS
The European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS) is an inter-institutional EU process promoting foresight and anticipatory governance. It brings together nine EU institutions and bodies who are committed to thinking longer term about the challenges and opportunities facing Europe and, through foresight, to support policy-makers to make the right policy choices.
We live in an era of rapid and sometimes frightening change, and of growing complexity and uncertainty. Stability, prosperity and democracy are no longer a given. To meet the expectations of citizens and communities, responsible governance is necessary to help prepare better for the future, mitigate major risks and build up capabilities. This is where strategic foresight comes into its own. By mainstreaming foresight techniques and processes in policy-making, Europe can make informed choices about the future and the lives and well-being of its citizens.
Since it was established in the early 2010s, ESPAS has led the way in forging a new culture of foresight in the EU. Many EU institutions, bodies and agencies have developed their own foresight capacity for better policy-making.
Drawing on the collective talent from amongst its members, ESPAS is currently working on a number of projects including:
- A series of Foresight Papers to stimulate discussion on the future across the policy spectrum.
- A horizon scanning project identifying 'weak signals' of change.
- An Annual Conference to be held in November 2025, bringing together political figures and experts from around the world.
For more information on ESPAS activities and foresight in the European Union, please contact us at ESPAS.Secretariat@europarl.europa.eu.
Foresight is much more about shaping the future than predicting it.
Foresight publications
- ESPAS foresight paper - AI quantum cybersecurity
November 2025 - ESPAS foresight paper - Inter-generational fairness
November 2025 - ESPAS foresight paper - What future for democracy in Europe
November 2025 - European Commission Strategic Foresight Report 2025
"Resilience 2.0: Empowering the EU to thrive amid turbulence and uncertainty".
September 2025 - European Parliamentary Research Service: 'Augmented foresight: The transformative power of generative AI for anticipatory governance'
July 2025 - European Parliamentary Research Service: 'EU policy foresight: Anticipating and shaping the EU's future'
July 2025 - European Parliamentary Research Service: 'EU Capabilities in space: Scenarios for space security by 2050'
July 2025 - ESPAS Horizon Scanning Newsletter – July 2025
July 2025 - ESPAS Horizon Scanning Newsletter – March 2025
March 2025 - European Parliamentary Research Service: 'The future European security architecture: Dilemmas for EU strategic autonomy'
March 2025 - Atlantic Council: 'The Global Foresight 2025 survey'
February 2025 - Council of the EU General Secretariat – 'Forward Look 2025: Time for Leadership'
January 2025 - OECD: 'Strategic Foresight Toolkit for Resilient Public Policy'
January 2025
- ESPAS Horizon Scanning Newsletter – November 2024
November 2024 - European Committee of the Regions: 2024 State of Regions and Cities – Annual Report
November 2024 - European Committee of the Regions: 'Embracing Uncertainly: Harnessing Strategic Foresight for Regional and Local Progress'
February 2024 - Atlantic Council: "Global Foresight Report 2024"
January 2024 - Council of the EU General Secretariat: 'Forward Look 2024: Managing uncertainty'
January 2024 - European Parliamentary Research Service: 'Ten issues to watch in 2024'
January 2024
- European Economic and Social Committee.
The impact of green and digital transitions on the role of organised civil society in the EU: Scenarios for 2050
November 2023 - Committee of the Regions Opinion:
Strategic foresight as an instrument of EU governance and better regulation
October 2023 - OECD working paper:
'Supporting decision making with strategic foresight: An emerging framework for proactive and prospective governments'
September 2023 - European Parliament
'Future Shocks 2023 Anticipating and weathering the next storms'
July 2023 - European Commission 2023 Strategic Foresight Report
'Sustainability and wellbeing at the heart of Europe's Open Strategic Autonomy'
July 2023 - European Commission JRC Science for Policy Report
'Towards a fair and sustainable Europe 2050: Social and economic choices in sustainability transitions'
July 2023 - ESPAS Horizon Scanning:
Emerging issues for EU policymaking
June 2023 - EESC Opinion on 2022 European Commission Strategic Foresight Report
March 2023 - Council of the European Union General Secretariat:
Forward Look 2023
January 2023
- Global Semiconductor Trends and the Future of EU Chip Capabilities
October 2022 - ESPAS Ideas Paper on the Geopolitics of Health
July 2022 - Future Shocks 2022:
Addressing risks and building capabilities for Europe in a contested world
April 2022 - European Commission Strategic Foresight Report 2022:
'Twinning the green and digital transition in the new geopolitical context' - Joint Research Centre's Science for Policy Report:
'Towards a green and digital future. Key requirements for successful twin transitions in the European Union' - ESPAS Ideas Paper on Populism
December 2021 - ESPAS Global Trends Mid-Term Report:
The Global Future – An Update
November 2021 - European Commission 2021 Strategic foresight report :
The EU’s capacity and freedom to act - Joint Research Centre (JRC)’s Science for policy report :
‘Shaping & securing the EU’s Open Strategic Autonomy by 2040 and beyond’ - ESPAS report 2019 :
Global Trends to 2030
April 2019
About ESPAS
An Inter-institutional EU Project
The European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS) is an inter-institutional EU process promoting foresight and anticipatory governance. It brings together nine EU institutions and bodies who are committed to thinking longer term about the challenges and opportunities facing Europe and, through foresight, to support policy-makers to make the right policy choices.
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