European Commission 2025: key initiatives & priorities (EPSO AD5 / internal competitions)

On 1 January 1995, Austria, Finland and Sweden joined the European Union, increasing EU membership from 12 to 15 countries. The anniversary marked 30 years of their participation in the EU.

Launched in 2005, eTwinning is the EU’s flagship initiative supporting online collaboration between schools across borders. It provides a free digital space for teachers in early childhood, primary, secondary and vocational education. Since its launch, over 1.2 million teachers from 295,000 schools have participated, involving more than three million pupils.

The Commission published its fifth report on progress in combating trafficking in human beings. The report identifies key trends, outlines measures taken by the EU and Member States, and analyses statistical data covering the period 2021–2022.

On 29 January, the Commission presented the Competitiveness Compass, the first major initiative of the new mandate. The initiative aims to strengthen the EU’s global competitiveness and coincided with the publication of the 2025 Annual Single Market and Competitiveness Report.

On 11 February, the Commission published the DG RTD report “She Figures 2024”, assessing the state of gender equality in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The report provides evidence-based analysis on women’s participation and career progression in research and innovation across the EU.

The Commission adopted its 2025 Work Programme, setting out key initiatives to strengthen the EU’s competitiveness, security and economic resilience. Building on the President’s Political Guidelines and Commissioners’ mission letters, the programme places a strong emphasis on simplification and faster policy delivery.

On 19 February, the College of Commissioners presented a “Vision for Agriculture and Food”, outlining an ambitious roadmap for the future of farming and food in Europe. The vision aims to support an attractive, competitive, resilient and fair agri-food system for current and future generations.

On 26 February, the Commission presented the Clean Industrial Deal, a comprehensive business plan aimed at strengthening EU industrial competitiveness while accelerating decarbonisation. The initiative addresses high energy costs, regulatory complexity and increasing global competition faced by European industry.

Eurostat released the 2025 edition of its biennial publication providing a comprehensive statistical portrait of the EU’s role on the world stage. The report supports policymaking on global disruptions, demographic change, migration, energy transitions and environmental challenges.

The Commission adopted a Communication on a “Union of Skills” supporting the development of Europe’s human capital and long-term competitiveness. The initiative sets new 2030 targets on basic skills, STEM participation, ICT training and gender balance across education pathways.

The Commission advanced work on the Critical Medicines Act, aiming to reduce shortages of essential medicines and strengthen manufacturing capacity within the EU pharmaceutical sector.

The Commission unveiled the White Paper for European Defence and the ReArm Europe Plan / Readiness 2030, outlining actions to strengthen EU defence capabilities in response to evolving security challenges.

The Commission adopted the Preparedness Union Strategy, including 30 key actions and an action plan to strengthen EU readiness for geopolitical risks, hybrid threats and natural disasters.

The Commission adopted “ProtectEU” — a European Internal Security Strategy — aiming to support Member States and strengthen the EU’s capacity to guarantee security for citizens.

The Commission presented the AI Continent Action Plan to position Europe as a global leader in artificial intelligence, accelerating innovation and uptake across the economy. It includes actions such as an EU network of “AI Factories” linked to leading supercomputers, and support for “AI Gigafactories”.

The Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe (EPALE) marked its 10th anniversary. EPALE is a multilingual online community with more than 165,000 members, supporting adult learning across Europe.

The European State of the Climate report was released, highlighting that 2024 was the hottest year ever recorded in Europe, with significant human impacts reported, including deaths and widespread disruption.

The Commission presented a package to update roadworthiness legislation, aiming to improve road safety and air quality, and to modernise rules on vehicle registration documents. The EU objective is to reduce road deaths and serious injuries by 50% by 2030.

The Commission adopted a simplification package for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), aiming to reduce administrative burden for farmers while improving targeting of controls, implementation, crisis response and investment support.

A European Vaccine Hub was launched in Siena to strengthen Europe’s pandemic preparedness, backed by up to €102 million in EU support. The initiative aims to shorten vaccine development timelines, including reducing the time from identifying a pathogen’s genomic sequence to a viable vaccine to under four months, and to support R&D, trials, technology transfer and scalable production capacity.

The Commission launched the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy, “Choose Europe to Start and Scale”, aiming to make Europe a stronger base for technology-driven companies to start, grow and scale globally.

The Commission presented the 2025 European Semester Spring Package, providing analysis of key economic and social challenges and guidance to Member States. It marks the first full assessment under the revised EU economic governance framework, with a focus on competitiveness and security.

The Commission adopted the European Water Resilience Strategy to restore and protect the water cycle, secure clean and affordable water for all, and strengthen a sustainable EU water economy, supporting progress toward improving EU water efficiency by at least 10% by 2030.

The Commission adopted the European Ocean Pact, bringing EU ocean-related policies under a single framework. Priorities include ocean protection, a competitive sustainable blue economy, support to coastal and outermost regions, stronger research, enhanced security, and reinforced ocean diplomacy.

The Commission and the High Representative adopted the International Digital Strategy to boost EU tech competitiveness, promote high security standards with partners, and shape global digital governance. Cooperation priorities include secure connectivity, AI, 5G/6G, semiconductors, quantum technologies, cybersecurity and digital public infrastructure.

The Commission unveiled a new EU Space Act focusing on safety, resilience and environmental sustainability, alongside a “Vision for the European Space Economy”. The proposal strengthens space object tracking, cybersecurity requirements and sustainability obligations for operators.

Signed on 14 June 1985 in Schengen (Luxembourg), the Schengen Agreement paved the way for the gradual removal of internal border controls. Today, the Schengen Area comprises 29 countries: 25 EU Member States and four associated countries (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland).

The Commission published the State of the Digital Decade 2025 report, concluding that stronger action is required to meet the EU’s 2030 digital transformation targets, notably due to slow deployment of fibre networks and stand-alone 5G infrastructure.

The Commission published a Eurobarometer survey showing that a large majority of Europeans consider climate change a serious problem and a policy priority. Around 85% of respondents view climate change as serious, while 81% support the EU objective of becoming climate-neutral by 2050, citing benefits for public health and quality of life.

The Commission published the 13th edition of the EU Justice Scoreboard, providing comparative data on the efficiency, quality and independence of justice systems across Member States. The report indicates that perceptions of judicial independence have improved or remained stable in most countries compared to the previous year.

The Commission proposed amending the EU Climate Law to set a 2040 climate target of a 90% reduction in net greenhouse gas emissions compared with 1990 levels. The proposal aims to provide investment predictability and flexibility, supporting the pathway towards climate neutrality by 2050 and aligning with competitiveness and energy security objectives.

The 2025 European Innovation Scoreboard reports continued progress in innovation performance across the EU. Sweden reclaimed its position as top innovator, while Ireland led the “Strong Innovators” group. Despite overall gains since 2018, the scoreboard shows a slight decline in aggregate performance compared with 2024.

The Commission adopted the Quantum Europe Strategy to strengthen Europe’s leadership in quantum technologies. The strategy focuses on research excellence, infrastructure development, ecosystem scaling, dual-use security applications and advanced skills development to build a resilient and sovereign quantum ecosystem.

The Commission published its sixth annual Rule of Law Report covering all Member States and four enlargement countries. The report assesses progress and remaining challenges in justice systems, anti-corruption frameworks, media freedom and institutional checks and balances.

On 16 July, the Commission presented its proposal for the next Multiannual Financial Framework (2028–2034), amounting to nearly €2 trillion. The proposal emphasises flexibility, programme simplification, stronger competitiveness investment, territorial cohesion and a balanced package of new own resources.

The Commission published the 2025 Strategic Foresight Report, identifying eight interconnected areas of action to strengthen Europe’s long-term resilience, including security, technology leadership, economic stability, democratic resilience, education and demographic preparedness. The report underlines that coordinated action across these domains is essential to prepare the EU for future shocks and opportunities.

Europe entered the global exascale computing league with the inauguration of JUPITER at Forschungszentrum Jülich. Capable of performing more than one quintillion calculations per second, JUPITER is currently Europe’s fastest supercomputer, ranks among the world’s top systems and leads the Green500 ranking for energy efficiency.

The European Week of Sport celebrated its anniversary, marking a decade of EU action promoting healthy and active lifestyles. Since 2015, the campaign has mobilised millions of citizens across Europe through sporting events supported by schools, clubs, federations and civil society organisations.

Eurostat released the 2025 Regional Yearbook, providing economic, social and environmental data for regions across the EU, candidate countries and EFTA states. This edition focuses on competitiveness and sustainable development in line with the Commission’s strategic priorities.

The EU Copernicus Ocean State Report highlights accelerating impacts from climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution across all ocean basins. The findings show rising ocean temperatures, increasing acidification, plastic pollution and growing risks for marine ecosystems, food security and coastal communities.

New EU rules enable consumers and businesses to transfer euro payments within seconds, 24/7, including across borders in the euro area. The Instant Payments Regulation aims to make electronic payments faster, safer and more accessible.

The Commission adopted a new LGBTIQ+ Equality Strategy setting out measures to combat discrimination, strengthen rights protection and promote inclusion across EU policies, building on progress achieved under the 2020–2025 strategy.

The Commission adopted a new Pact for the Mediterranean to strengthen cooperation with Southern Mediterranean partners across people-to-people links, economic development, clean energy, connectivity, security and migration.

The Commission adopted its 2026 Work Programme outlining forthcoming legislative and policy initiatives, including simplification, defence, competitiveness, social policy, climate resilience, equality and external action priorities.

The Commission published its annual enlargement package, concluding that enlargement has become a realistic prospect again for frontrunner countries. Montenegro and Albania recorded substantial reform progress and remain on track toward their respective accession objectives, subject to sustained reform momentum.

The European Democracy Shield package strengthens EU capacity to counter disinformation and information manipulation, safeguard media freedom, reinforce democratic institutions and enhance citizens’ engagement, including through the creation of a European Centre for Democratic Resilience.

The defence package advances military mobility through harmonised rules, faster cross-border procedures, infrastructure upgrades, emergency response mechanisms and stronger EU-level coordination to enable rapid movement of troops and equipment across Europe.

The Commission adopted the first EU-wide prevention, preparedness and response plan for health crises, providing a toolbox for coordinated action on cross-border health threats and clarifying EU-level roles, mobilisation mechanisms and emergency procedures.

The Commission adopted a package of measures to deepen integration of EU financial markets as part of the Savings and Investments Union strategy, aiming to remove barriers, improve market efficiency and expand investment opportunities for citizens and businesses.