The European Commission is expected to table an advanced materials act in the fourth quarter of 2026, possibly in the form of a Council recommendation, to establish a strategic framework for research funding, scale-up, standards and safety rules. But what are advanced materials, and why do they matter for EU competitiveness, from clean energy and electronics to medicine and defence?

Advanced materials act

Almost one in four children in the European Union (EU) remains at risk of poverty or social exclusion (24.3 % or 19.3 million children in 2025), and this year's International Day for the Eradication of Poverty presents an opportunity to look at what the EU is doing to tackle child poverty. While responsibility for combating child poverty lies primarily with Member States, the EU supports and complements national efforts through policy coordination, legislation within its competences and financial instruments. The fight against child poverty is an EU priority; as part of the first EU anti‑poverty strategy, in May 2026 a European Commission initiative aimed to strengthen implementation of the European Child Guarantee, established by a Council recommendation in 2021. European funds, notably the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), are central to its implementation.

EU contribution to the fight against child poverty

As set out in the EU gender equality strategy 2026-2030, achieving gender equality in the European Union is a joint responsibility, requiring action by all EU institutions, Member States and EU agencies, in partnership with civil society and women's organisations, social partners and the private sector.

Gender representation among Members of the European Parliament

European clean industries are facing fierce competition from China and others. What will this mean for the future of European green technologies? This paper provides an overview of the Clean Industrial Deal and the relevant parts of Mario Draghi's report on the future of European competitiveness, and presents three scenarios for the future of European clean industries by 2035. Will European clean industries survive, thrive or perish in the face of Chinese competition and other challenges?

Future of European clean industries

Psychosocial risks affect a significant share of workers in Europe. Yet European Union law names them only implicitly, leaving room for interpretation. Several instruments touch on mental health from different angles, but none sets requirements to prevent the risks, and national rules diverge widely.

Psychosocial risks, stress and mental health at work

In 2026, the EU's system for making producers pay for the waste their products generate faces a decisive test. Since 12 August, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation applies directly in all 27 Member States, reshaping how packaging waste costs are shared between industry and the public purse. In parallel, the Commission's Environmental Omnibus package proposes suspending some compliance obligations to cut administrative burden, while a forthcoming circular economy act could redesign the EU's whole producer-responsibility architecture.

Commission's omnibus VIII on environmental legislation

As every year, two annual procedures are central to the budgetary work of the European Parliament and the other institutions – agreeing on the 2027 budget and granting discharge for the implementation of the 2025 budget. In addition, in 2026, the process of agreeing the next multiannual financial framework (MFF) for the years from 2028 to 2034 will continue. This timeline sets out the main steps in those procedures up to the end of 2026.

Timeline for the three key EU budgetary procedures in autumn 2026

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 on the eve of the 2026 State of the Union address. The von der Leyen II Commission has set seven priorities – different from the six priorities of her first mandate. It has so far announced over 400 initiatives. Almost half of these initiatives fall under the first priority, on prosperity and competitiveness; one in seven under the second, on defence and security; and one in 10 under the third, on social fairness. The remaining initiatives fall under the other four priorities. Two figures provide summary information in infographic format: 1) charting the Commission's legislative and non‑legislative delivery as of 31 August 2026; 2) an overview of progress on all the omnibuses.

Commission's omnibus V on defence: delivery up to 1 September 2026

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

Security and defence have become central to the EU enlargement process, in the wake of Russia's war against Ukraine and the subsequent geopolitical uncertainty in the EU's neighbourhood. This briefing examines how candidate and potential candidate countries in the Western Balkans and the Eastern Trio (Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) are aligning with the EU's common foreign and security policy and boosting their defence capabilities.

Military spending by enlargement country

The passenger package responds to the fragmentation of EU passenger transport, where travellers face difficulties in planning and booking multimodal and cross-border journeys due to disconnected ticketing systems, limited data access and weak interoperability between operators. This often forces passengers to buy separate tickets and reduces protection if disruptions occur across different journey legs.

Passenger package

Youth mental ill-health in the EU-27 is high, rising and increasingly associated with digital environments. This study shows how persuasive platform design, harmful content and emerging AI-mediated interactions amplify offline vulnerabilities in the context of under-resourced, fragmented services and a large 'missing middle' between schools and specialist care. Using seven country case studies and an EU-27 cost model, it estimates that youth mental ill-health will cost about €1.68 trillion over 2024-2033 if current policies continue.

Mental health of young people in a digital era

Hybrid threats against the EU have increased significantly in both frequency and sophistication, creating complex challenges for European security, democratic institutions and societal resilience. The EU and its Member States have gradually transformed their understanding of hybrid threats into concrete policies, operational capabilities and coordinated response mechanisms.

EU response to hybrid threats

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.

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