Leading political figures, civil society representatives, think tanks, policy experts and foresight practitioners will come together on 3 November 2026 at this year’s ESPAS annual conference entitled 'Europe 2040: What future for European security?' to debate what the state of play of European security will be in 2040. Vice-President and Member of the European Parliament, Victor Negrescu, will be a guest speaker at this conference, co-hosted by the Parliament and Commission.
ESPAS annual conference
Tuesday 3 November 2026
9:00 - 17:30
webcast live on www.espas.eu
This event will provide a unique platform to bring foresight and policymaking together in a European context. It offers a timely opportunity to explore new ideas for Europe's future; helping shape its strategic choices and priorities for the coming decades. Europe and the world face new and unprecedented challenges. Structured anticipation and preparation is not a choice, but a necessity. 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 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, the impacts of climate change , and energy dependence. With global trends pointing towards a plethora of challenges ahead, the 13th annual ESPAS conference will explore how we will 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 in the European Parliament and online to debate the future of EU security as it grapples with these choices, and in the process identifies its strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities.
Embedding strategic foresight in policymaking is now increasingly understood as a means of preparing better for the future and minimising risks. This is the aim of ESPAS interinstitutional EU foresight process.
