European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS) Annual Conference 2026
Leading political figures, civil society representatives, think tanks, policy experts and foresight practitioners will come together at this year’s ESPAS annual conference “Europe 2040: What future for European security?" on 3 November to debate the future of European security in its various aspects with a time horizon of 2040.
The conference, co-hosted by the European Parliament and the European Commission, will provide a unique platform to bring foresight and policymaking together in a European context and offers a timely opportunity to explore new ideas for Europe's future, and to help shape its strategic choices and priorities for the coming decades.
Europe and the world face new and unprecedented challenges. Anticipating and preparing in a structured way for the future is not a choice, but a necessity. The 2024 ESPAS Global Trends Report “Choosing Europe’s Future” highlighted the importance of preparing for the future: “Today, the EU again finds itself in the midst of trends, which, left unattended, could generate interlocking crises at home and abroad”. As we look to the future, this ESPAS conference will seek to stimulate debate and fresh thinking on possible answers to the complexity and disruption we will continue to face, and the hard choices ahead for Europe.
European security in 2040 will not simply be defined in military and defence terms, rather by a series of interlocking forces including geopolitics, technological disruption, economic competition, climate change impact, and energy dependence. With global trends pointing to a plethora of new challenges ahead, this 13th ESPAS annual conference will explore how we define European security in 2040, and what strategic choices will need to be made by political leaders to strengthen our security. Speakers from across Europe and beyond will come together to debate the future for European Union security as it grapples with these choices, and in the process identify its strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities.
How should Europe strengthen its defence and security architecture to meet the geopolitical challenges of tomorrow’s world? What are the key pillars of a future competitive and sustainable European economy? How do we improve energy security and minimise shocks and vulnerabilities? How can we harness technology to make Europe more resilient and secure? What can be done to strengthen societal resilience and stability?
Trust between citizens and institutions is a precious commodity in democratic societies. The trends we see today suggest this trust is eroding. Unlocking innovative responses to the many challenges to our collective security across the various domains could help repair the social contract and underpin democracy itself. Embedding strategic foresight in our policymaking is now increasingly understood as a means of preparing better for the future and minimising risk. This is the aim of the ESPAS inter-institutional EU foresight process.
For more information about the ESPAS annual conference, please email us at ESPAS [dot] Secretariat [at] europarl [dot] europa [dot] eu (ESPAS[dot]Secretariat[at]europarl[dot]europa[dot]eu)