Top Ten Issues to Watch in the New Year: EU Policy Agenda and Focus of Public Debate

List of Key Chapter Titles

1. Balancing Scale and Innovation to Enhance Productivity
2. Setting the 2040 Climate Target
3. The Next Steps Towards European Economic Security
4. Shaping the EU's Future Fiscal Landscape
5. Strengthening Future Investment Capacity
6. Gearing Up: The European Electric Vehicle Industry
7. Enhancing EU Competitiveness in Artificial Intelligence
8. Strengthening the European Defence Industry
9. Accelerating the Return of Irregular Migrants
10. Rebuilding Trust in the Public Sphere

Document Introduction

This report is the ninth edition of the annual publication series by the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS), focusing on ten key issues and policy areas likely to feature prominently in EU public debate and the political agenda in 2025. As the new 2024-2029 political cycle begins, the EU faces multiple challenges including an evolving geopolitical landscape, intensified global competition, and a deepening climate crisis. These issues reflect both the three pillars of the "Competitiveness Compass" proposed by the second von der Leyen Commission and encompass specific policy focuses such as industrial transformation, migration governance, and public trust.

The report's core topics revolve around EU economic development and competitiveness, including balancing the contradiction between corporate scale expansion and innovation-driven growth, strengthening future investment capacity to meet the demands of green and digital transitions, and shaping the post-2027 long-term budget framework. Among these, economic security, as an emerging policy direction, has become a central tool for addressing threats such as supply chain vulnerabilities, technology leakage risks, and economic coercion. The EU is gradually building a more robust economic security system by refining tools like foreign investment screening, export controls, and critical raw material security.

Climate and industrial transformation issues carry significant weight. The report provides a detailed analysis of the rationale, implementation pathways, and impact on industrial decarbonisation for the 2040 climate target (a 90% net emissions reduction compared to 1990). It also explores the development challenges and policy adjustment directions for the European electric vehicle industry amidst challenges like subsidy phase-outs, cost pressures, and insufficient infrastructure. Artificial intelligence and the defence industry, as key areas of global competition, focus respectively on how the EU can enhance its industrial competitiveness given its current state of regulatory leadership but developmental lag, and on the pathways and funding needs for strengthening the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB) against the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Migration policy and trust in the public sphere are crucial issues concerning EU social cohesion. The report points out the current low rate of returns of irregular migrants and explores policy optimisation directions under the EU's Pact on Migration and Asylum framework. It also analyses the public trust crisis caused by factors such as information manipulation and social media influence in the digital age, as well as the EU's efforts to address this crisis through regulations like the Digital Services Act and the Artificial Intelligence Act.

Based on policy analysts' professional research, comprehensive data support, and rigorous case studies, this report provides decision-making references for EU parliamentarians and staff. It also offers an authoritative perspective for understanding the direction of EU policy, strategic priorities, and implementation challenges in 2025. All analyses are grounded in the EU legal framework, policy documents, and market realities, objectively presenting the complexity of each issue and diverse potential solutions.