The EU should take a bolder approach to long‑term planning, with stress‑tested scenarios and a stronger role for civil society

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has welcomed the European Commission’s 2025 Strategic Foresight Report (SFR) but is urging the EU to take a far more ambitious approach to long-term preparedness.

In its opinion on the SFR, the EESC warns that the report remains too close to existing political trajectories and does not sufficiently consider possible external disruptions, the EU’s innovation gaps, internal institutional challenges and the costs of delaying EU enlargement, which could all potentially reshape Europe’s future. 

‘Strategic foresight should primarily support sustainable and inclusive well-being as part of the European social model. At the same time, it should take into account the current fragmentation of European capital markets, which severely constrains the efficient flow of capital to firms of all sizes, limiting innovation for SMEs and microenterprises’, rapporteur Philip von Brockdorff said.

The EESC also calls for a more structured role for organised civil society in the EU’s foresight cycle. 

In its opinion, the EESC has called for a much sharper strategic edge and has issued several specific recommendations, such as moving beyond simply projecting current trends and instead exploring a range of alternative futures, including disruptive and pessimistic scenarios, while being more transparent about its methods and assumptions. 

It recommends that the European Commission should address areas where the EU is lagging behind global competitors and where regulation may hinder innovation, warning that failure to do so risks weakening Europe’s position. Strengthening the Savings and Investments Union is crucial to improving capital flow, especially for SMEs, alongside the creation of EU-wide resilience metrics to support better policymaking. 

It also calls for greater attention to smaller businesses and less-developed regions, a more strategic approach to labour migration given demographic decline, and an examination of the EU’s own governance systems in light of technological change and potential enlargement. Finally, it stresses the importance of incorporating detailed scenarios on climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution, including the costs of inaction and potential regulatory responses.

The Strategic Foresight Report is the EU’s annual examination of global megatrends and long-term developments likely to influence the EU up to 2040. (ll)

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has welcomed the European Commission’s proposals to simplify the EU’s digital rulebook, stressing that simplification must strengthen competitiveness without weakening fundamental rights, social standards or legal certainty.

In its opinion on the Digital and AI Omnibus, the EESC underlined that cutting red tape can bring immediate relief to businesses, administrations and citizens, but warned against lowering existing safeguards, particularly those enshrined in the GDPR and the AI Act.

'Companies, workers and consumers need clear, coherent rules that reduce compliance risks and administrative burdens, without lowering standards in substance,' said rapporteur Heiko Willems. He added that fragmentation, duplicative requirements and unclear definitions continue to hamper innovation and growth.

A key priority is to clarify and harmonise core definitions across EU digital legislation, including personal data, data holder and placing on the market, in order to reduce legal uncertainty.

The EESC also called for clearer rules on anonymised and pseudonymised data to support innovation, while ensuring strong protection of personal data and respect for data minimisation principles. It emphasised the importance of ensuring access to personal data for legitimate purposes, such as protecting workers’ rights and health and safety.

On the AI Omnibus, the EESC reaffirmed its support for a risk-based and proportionate approach that enables innovation while safeguarding fundamental and workers’ rights.

Co-rapporteur Angelo Pagliara stressed the importance of involving workers’ representatives whenever AI is introduced in the workplace, ensuring full respect for consultation rights and robust oversight.

The EESC also welcomed plans to reduce administrative burden through a genuinely interoperable EU single entry point for reporting obligations under NIS2, GDPR, DORA, eIDAS and CER. Such a system would allow companies to reuse information, submit reports in English and benefit from streamlined procedures, easing compliance while strengthening cybersecurity and resilience.

Finally, the EESC recognised the need to ensure a simplified regulatory framework for SMEs and small mid-caps, while at the same time stressing that such simplified regimes must apply only to genuinely independent companies, in line with EU definitions, to prevent misuse. (ll)