The Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), established in 2021 as a response to the COVID-19 crisis under the temporary Next Generation EU recovery instrument, is entering its critical final phase. With over €405 billion already disbursed to Member States – out of the €577 billion available in grants and loans – the priority now is to ensure that all the outstanding milestones and targets (implementing steps) linked to investment and reform measures featured in the Member States' national recovery and resilience plans are completed by 31 August 2026, and that the remaining payments are made by the end of 2026 at the latest. To support this final stretch, the European Commission issued its closing RFF guidelines on 4 May 2026.

Navigating the RRF's final phase: European Commission's roadmap

The proposal for an EU chips act 2.0, planned as part of the forthcoming 'tech sovereignty package', will aim to strengthen Europe's resilience and technological sovereignty in semiconductors. It is expected to address the EU's lack of manufacturing capacity for advanced semiconductor nodes and for other chip markets where the EU holds a competitive advantage; improve the monitoring of semiconductor markets; and simplify the regulatory framework.

Chips act 2.0

While the right to housing is recognised by the European Pillar of Social Rights, the supply of housing in the EU has not kept up with demand. The recent cost-of living crisis has made the lack of adequate, affordable and sustainable housing more palpable. While the responsibility for housing provision lies with EU Member States, regions and cities, the debates around the 2024 European elections showed that citizens expected the EU to step up its action beyond guidance and funding.

Developing a coordinated EU approach to housing

The EU energy security framework, comprising the Security of Gas Supply Regulation (SoGS), the Electricity Risk Preparedness Regulation and emergency measures, such as mandatory gas storage and joint procurement, has played a crucial role in safeguarding the EU's energy supply. While the framework demonstrated resilience during the 2022 2023 energy crisis, the Commission's 2025 fitness check highlights significant gaps that require reform to address evolving threats and the accelerating energy transition.

Revision of the EU energy security framework – Implementation takeaways

In the context of the wars in Ukraine and other parts of the world, the increasingly global effects – material and political – of war make it more important than ever to measure the level of threats to peace, security and democracy around the world. The Normandy Index has presented an annual measurement of these threats since the 2019 Normandy Peace Forum.

Mapping threats to peace and democracy worldwide: Normandy Index

Europe's key instrument to achieving energy independence and increasing competitiveness lies in the energy transition and, specifically, in boosting the generation capacity of renewable sources of energy.

Renewable energy in the EU

Joint procurement of defence equipment by the EU has gained renewed strategic importance in response to the recent deteriorating security environment and persistent fragmentation within the European defence market. Although the European Defence Agency set a 35 % collaborative procurement benchmark back in 2007, cooperation among Member States remains limited.

EU joint defence procurement

New digital technologies are a mixed blessing for women's rights and representation in the information sphere in general, and in the democratic debate in particular. Innovative digital tools often promise to make public debates more inclusive, for women too.

Women in the age of AI-enabled disinformation

Despite strong political commitments to gender equality at EU and national level, women still remain politically under-represented at all levels of political power. In the European Parliament, as well as in national parliaments, governments and local assemblies, their share most often is under the symbolic 40 % mark. Progress has also been uneven among Member States, with women remaining markedly under-represented in some Member States.

Women in politics in the EU

This EPRS paper analyses how the European Commission is delivering on the policy agenda set by its President, Ursula von der Leyen, and her College of Commissioners since taking office in December 2024. It provides an initial assessment of the delivery of the agenda's seven priorities as of spring 2026.

The European Commission's seven priorities: delivery up to 1 March 2026

Food contact materials (FCMs) include all materials that come into physical contact with food during its production, processing, packaging and storage. They contain thousands of chemicals, some of which can migrate into food, especially at high temperatures, during long contact times or with certain food types. Scientific evidence shows that such migration is common and may contribute to human exposure to hazardous substances, including endocrine disruptors, carcinogens and reproductive toxicants.

Food contact materials in the EU

Whereas generative AI (Gen AI) tools are already widely used to find, consume and share information, they can also accelerate and transform information manipulation, challenging information integrity in new ways. As pressures on the information space continue to grow, mirrored in public concern, regulators are pushed to act fast. In a changing geostrategic landscape, upholding universal values in the digital realm is particularly pertinent for the EU. Legislation relevant to Gen AI-enabled information manipulation includes the Artificial Intelligence Act, the Digital Services Act (DSA), including the Code of Conduct on Disinformation, the European Media Freedom Act and the Directive on Combating Violence against Women.

Information manipulation in the age of generative AI

Almost all young people in the European Union use the internet daily and are much more likely to participate in social network activities than the total population. Social media platforms have also become young people's top source for information on political and social issues: in a Flash Eurobarometer survey in 2025, 65 % of respondents aged between 15 and 24 said social media was their main source of information.

Youth and social media

Cancer is currently the second leading cause of mortality in the EU, after cardiovascular diseases. In 2024, around 2.7 million people were diagnosed with cancer in the EU and around 1.27 million died. EU action focuses on prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment; and quality of life for cancer patients, survivors and carers.

EU action on cancer

This is the tenth edition of an annual EPRS paper aimed at identifying and framing many of the key issues and policy areas that will feature prominently in public debate and on the political agenda of the European Union over the coming year. The topics analysed encompass, the next long term EU budget, Ukraine's integration into the EU, defence, EU-China relations, the impact of artificial intelligence on the web, the potential of startup companies, irregular migration, climate policy, action for the oceans, and lessons from the post-COVID 19 Recovery and Resilience Facility.

Ten issues to watch in 2026: Which key events will shape the year?

In January 2025, the European Commission announced it would present a European grids package as part of its competitiveness compass for the EU. The intention of building on the 2023 action plan for grids was reiterated in February 2025, in the Clean Industrial Deal and action plan for affordable energy; and most recently as part of the 2026 Commission work programme adopted in October 2025. The Commission is expected to present the grids package on 10 December 2025.

European grids package: Lessons learnt from the implementation of the TEN E framework

The EU and its Member States have signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and use its definition of disability as a common reference at EU level. There is no other harmonised definition of disability in the EU. The introduction of the Global Activity Limitation Instrument indicator (GALI) in most of Eurostat's social and economic surveys offers the opportunity to have a clearer assessment of disability in the EU than before. It confirms that in 2024 the prevalence of disability was higher among female, older and less educated respondents. The EU combats all forms of discrimination alongside and in support of its Member States.

Understanding EU policies for people with disabilities

Over the past two EU legislatures, efforts to tackle foreign information manipulation and interference have grown into a broad, society-wide approach involving citizens, fact-checkers, civil society, media, and governments. The new European Democracy Shield aims to strengthen these efforts by expanding existing tools and responsibilities. It focusses on combating disinformation and protecting elections, supporting media and journalists, and safeguarding civil society and human rights defenders.

Timeline: the EU’s response to information manipulation since the Russian annexation of Crimea

As many women and girls continue to face barriers in accessing affordable menstrual products, menstrual poverty remains a significant socioeconomic issue. To combat it, the EU Value Added Tax (VAT) Directive now allows Member States to apply reduced or zero VAT rates to sanitary products. On 4 November 2025, the European Parliament's Subcommittee on Tax Matters (FISC) will hold a public hearing on this issue in light of the Parliament's Gender Equality Week.

VAT rates on tampons across the EU

This briefing provides a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in the current 10th parliamentary term (2024-2029) who had held public office at local, regional and/or national level before taking up their mandates (or, in some cases, continue to hold sub-national level public posts).

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