Insufficient enforcement of common EU rules, threats to consumer confidence, excessive complexity for SMEs and a loss of competitiveness in the digital sector are among the greatest challenges facing the Single Market. The EU has a duty to protect it in order to promote economic growth and maintain social cohesion.
This event will explore how sustainable food systems can advance the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in today’s geopolitical and environmental landscape. The meeting will focus on SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) and SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), both under review at the 2026 UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF).
From the Baltic to the Black Sea, Europe’s eastern border regions are no longer outlying corners of the Union. They are where Europe’s security and sovereignty are tested daily, brutally, and without pretence. In the shadow of Russia’s war against Ukraine and Belarus’s complicity, these regions have become the EU’s strategic vanguard. Yet Brussels still treats them as a cohesion issue rather than a geopolitical emergency.
The 2026 United Nations Water Conference comes at a decisive moment for global water governance. As increased demand from economic activities, unsustainable water use, population growth and climate change put increasing pressure on hydrological resources, water has become a central challenge for societal and economic resilience, social stability and sustainable development. In its dedicated opinion, the EESC outlines a strategic vision for global action, based on its work on the EU Blue Deal and informed by the experience of employers, workers and organised civil society.
