
MED V – The Future of EU Prosperity: Addressing the Modernization Challenge
The 5th Mercator European Dialogue once more provided the parliamentarians from our network with an opportunity to share their views in a listening conversation, discuss European dimensions of the French economic reform agenda and devise their own initiatives.
The confluence of globalization, digitalization, technological advances and demographic change are radically reconfiguring the socio-economic fiber of our societies. Our network discusses 'what next?' for the European Union.
The European industrial landscape is facing a projected shortage of ICT skills and associated competitive innovation. Sustainable economic transformations in the sector are essential for EU economic prosperity in the future.
Digital change, technological innovation, and globalization are having implications on citizens' lives, their privacy and for society as a whole, with both dangers and promises for progress. How do we safeguard ethics in artificial intelligence?
If the economy contracts in the future, would this necessarily be a disaster? Europe could have the consumption levels of the 1980s or 1990s but with a higher quality of life. What do we want from long-term sustainability?
For some member states unemployment is a pressing and urgent policy and political challenge demanding short-term solutions. For others it is a challenge only in the context of the long-term economic transformation of societies.
Copy-pasting certain models of work across the EU would be counterproductive between member states with a completely different economic make-up. Following an overly unified model could end the European project.
Educational reform in European countries requires a new mindset, one that embraces the notion that education and training does not stop at the high school or higher education level but will require a life-long investment.
Current European tax systems need reform as they are ill-suited for an increasingly digital era, are not well-protected against the ongoing erosion of tax-bases and tax evasion, and are not used strategically to further political goals.
Industrial policies in the EU were found to be insufficient to foster innovation and long-term competitiveness of European products, highlighting the need for an integrated European industrial policy from national parliaments.