EC’S NEW AREAS FOR ACTION INSPIRED BY THE CONFERENCE ON THE FUTURE OF EUROPE

1.Climate Change and Environment

1. Legislation for plants produced by certain new genomic techniques;
2. Animal welfare standards for imported goods;
3. Options for animal welfare labelling;
4. Guidance on sector-specific application of the energy efficiency first principle;
5. EU-wide assessment of draft updated national energy and climate plans;
6. Enhancing private financing for energy efficiency;
7. Tackling the environmental impact of waste management;
8. Measures to limit light pollution;
9. Further promoting cycling infrastructure and car-free zones (Urban Vehicle Access regulations);
10. Action Plan to promote the energy transition of the fisheries and aquaculture sectors;
11. Legislative proposal on increasing the share of zero-emission vehicles in public and corporate car fleets above a certain size;
12. Assessing the need for an EU-wide exemption of international rail tickets from VAT to significantly reduce the cost to rail passengers.

2. Health

1. Digital and front-of-pack labelling on the product’s eco-footprint;
2. Ways to increase participation in the European Public Health Week;
3. Patents Package, including initiative on supplementary protection certificates and compulsory licensing of patents;
4. Measures to address the marketing and advertising of products linked to cancer risks;
5. Effects of smoke-free legislation;
6. New comprehensive approach to mental health.

3. Stronger Economy, Social Justice and Jobs

1. Measures to support regions in development traps experiencing persistent low growth;
2. Further work to make industry sustainable, digital and resilient, and to address dependencies;
3. Addressing the demographic transition, notably on ageing and depopulation;
4. An integrated approach to measuring and monitoring wellbeing beyond GDP;
5. Further expand and upgrade the use of digital tools and processes in company law.

4. EU in the World

1. New measures to improve global EU food security;

1. Supply chain resilience and transparency for critical medicines, medical products and ingredients.

5. Values and Rights, Rule of Law Security

1. Initiative on associations and non-profit organisations;
2. Annual Rule of Law Conference to involve citizens besides stakeholders

6.Digital Transformation

1. Ramping up the enforcement of the GDPR, including a reflection on administrative procedure for the application of the GDPR in cross border cases, and increased communication on data protection rules and consent, and improving information on how data is used;
2. Further development of the European Digital Identity, including the facilitation of crossborder transactions;
3. European data spaces for mobility and tourism;
4. A European framework for the measurement, assessment and information of the environmental impact of digitisation for citizens;
5. Better enforcement of consumer protection laws;
6. Alternative ways of resolving consumer disputes;
7. Initiatives to enhance digital cohesion building on the European Digital Innovation Hubs;
8. Further development of the multilingual dimension within the context of digital transformation in the EU;
9.  Standard programme on netiquette and the online rights of users;
10. Standardisation activities on artificial intelligence;
11. A preparatory action for EU coordinated darknet monitoring

7.European Democracy

1. Help to build capacity amongst national, regional and local actors to launch a new generation of decentralised citizens’ dialogues based on deliberative approaches;
2. Develop a European Charter for Citizens’ Participation targeted at all those who participate in or organise citizen engagement activities promoting the general principles that are essential for successful citizen engagement;
3. Making European citizenship more tangible to citizens, including by reinforcing the rights attached to it and by providing reliable and easily accessible information about it;
4. Promoting teaching material from European collaborative projects on the Commission’s ‘Learning Corner’, and developing new teaching material that also expands on the importance of active citizenship and media literacy;
5.  Improving the transparency of EU decision-making by allowing citizens’ observers to closely follow the decision-making process. Such representatives could be invited by the three institutions together to observe selected interinstitutional EU decision-making processes on topics of broader interest, and ‘broadcast’ developments to citizens in Europe.

8.Migration

1. Tackling employment and labour shortages reflecting the geopolitical context;
2. Evaluating the anti-trafficking legislation and if necessary propose a revision;
3. Stepping up work on first reception.

9. Education, Culture, Youth and Sport

1. Further improved information platform to exchange and pool education-related information.