The European Union (EU) is approaching a tipping point. With the 2024 "super-electoral" year coming to an end, the uncertain outcomes of the persisting war in Ukraine, the lack of a cohesive EU stance on the war in Gaza impacting how the union is perceived worldwide, and increasing geopolitical frictions between the US and China, analyzing the EU's strategy to navigate these global shifts has become more important than ever.

This session brought together a group of experts to analyze the future of the EU and its policies in the world. The roundtable discussion, ‘Charting new Horizons: Steering the EU’s policies towards the current Global shifts’, on October 18th, consisted of two panels.

The first panel, ‘Constructive Criticism of the EU's policies in the world’ addressed the following question: How are the EU's foreign policies impacting and perceived by the Global South and emerging countries? Experts from outside the EU were invited to present a series of perspectives, criticisms, and recommendations on the EU’s policies around the world.

The second panel, ‘Ideas for the way forward. Improving the EU’s External Action: Strategies for competitiveness, interdependence, climate action, and the Global Gateway Initiative’, was guided by the following question: What constructive changes are needed in the EU's foreign policies to improve its strategic impact and foster stronger international partnerships? EU experts presented and debated policy recommendations and ideas for the EU to move forward with its geostrategic orientation and policies, such as its quest for enhanced competitiveness, ‘strategic interdependence’, its climate action and the Global Gateway Initiative.

This was the third session of the 2024 Madrid & Barcelona Future of Europe Debates joint project that aims at putting together a solid corpus of reflections that contributes to the debate on the future of Europe.