![Ten issues to watch in 2024 [Policy Podcast]](https://i0.wp.com/epthinktank.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/EPRS-IDA-757592-Ten-issues-to-watch-in-2024-FINAL.png?fit=1020%2C1020&ssl=1)
Written by Etienne Bassot.
The eighth edition of this annual publication comes in a year in which the European political cycle comes full circle. Just 150 days after the launch of this paper, the results of the European elections will shape the European Parliament for the five years to come. The Parliament, which has launched an ambitious reform project to modernise and strengthen itself, will be ready for this new term, not least to elect the President of the European Commission and then deliver a vote of consent on the full college of Commissioners.
In this electoral year, it is fitting to look back before we look ahead. The issues we identified on the eve of the previous European elections – in 2019 – were the institutional changes following citizens’ votes, a changing world both climate-wise and in international relations, and the impact of the digital transformation on technologies, the economy and the social fabric of society. These issues were not only confirmed as being critical; they have accelerated over the past five years. The climate has seen ever more extremes and the issue of climate change become more urgent, as we each experience in daily life and as science has confirmed, most recently at the December 2023 COP28 climate change conference in Dubai. New wars and fronts have raged across the globe, from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Europe’s eastern flank, to Azerbaijan’s attack and recapture of the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, to the conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East. And at home, the digital transition is affecting more and more aspects of our daily lives.
To understand this uncertain and volatile world, this year again, the European Parliamentary Research Service has asked ten of its policy analysts to explain the latest developments in their respective areas. When it comes to selecting just ten issues, there has never been a lack of material. And certainly not this year. Our aim is to shine the spotlight on just a few issues which will be crucial in the year 2024, as highlighted in the timeline in Figure 1. Some will make the headlines, whereas others may get less publicity but nonetheless be critical in the legislative or budgetary agenda of the Union, and contribute to changing our lives and society over time.
This publication covers climate and also broadens the view to El Niño. It deals with the green and digital transition and zooms in on the automotive industry. It focuses on the United States elections as well as on its would-be challenger, India. It addresses both Ukraine’s reconstruction and the legal response to the aggression: prosecution of international core crimes and reparation for victims. And of course, in a year of elections, it looks at this major democratic exercise, involving hundreds of millions of citizens on our own continent, with a specific eye for young voters and fake reality and online misinformation.
Readers will find our analysis on other issues in previous editions of this publication (listed under the ‘Further reading section’) and in the thousands of publications EPRS has issued online and in paper over the years, to enrich the knowledge environment of the Parliament.
We hope that you will enjoy reading this latest edition of ‘Ten Issues to Watch’ and that it will stimulate your own reflection and ignite your curiosity as you explore the challenges and opportunities of 2024.
Read the complete in-depth analysis on ‘Ten issues to watch in 2024‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.
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