In this spirit, the Commission aims at supporting people and businesses – whether by reducing energy prices, securing the supplies critical for our industrial competitiveness and food security, or by reinforcing our social market economy.
Delivering on six headline ambitions
- A European Green Deal
Against the backdrop of Russia’s war against Ukraine, the Commission will propose in early 2023, amongst other initiatives, a comprehensive reform of the EU’s electricity market, including decoupling electricity and gas prices.
In 2023, the Commission will also take action to reduce waste and the environmental impact of waste, with a focus on food and textile waste.
- A Europe fit for the digital age
To tackle current and future risks of strategic dependencies, the Commission will propose EU measures to ensure adequate and diversified access to critical raw materials needed for Europe’s digital and economic resilience.
The Commission will also propose a common European mobility data space to boost the digitalisation of the mobility sector, while an EU regulatory framework for hyperloop will help prepare us for emerging mobility solutions.
- An economy that works for people
Taking into account input from the Conference on the Future of Europe, the Commission will carry out a review of our economic governance to ensure it is still fit for purpose.
Given the social challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s war against Ukraine, we will update our framework for quality traineeships to address issues, such as fair remuneration and access to social protection, to boost Europe’s social resilience.
- A stronger Europe in the world
The cruel reality of war confirms the need to ramp up EU efforts in the area of security and defence.
- Promoting our European way of life
With only 15% of young people having undertaken studies, training or apprenticeships in another EU country, the Commission will propose to update the current EU learning mobility framework, to enable students to move more easily between education systems. As 2023 will be the European Year of Skills, we want to attract highly qualified professionals to sectors where Europe experiences workforce shortages, through proposals on recognising the qualifications of non-EU nationals. A targeted initiative will promote one of the most strategically important skills, through a Cybersecurity Skills Academy.
To build further the European Health Union, the Commission will propose a comprehensive approach to mental health, one of the key initiatives from the Conference on the Future of Europe, as well as a revised recommendation on smoke-free environments, and a new recommendation on vaccine-preventable cancers.
- A new push for European democracy
Democracy is the bedrock of our Union. In 2023, the Commission will put forward a defence of democracy package, including an initiative on the protection of the EU’s democratic space from outside interests.
We will continue building a Union of equality by proposing a European disability card that will ensure the mutual recognition of disability status across all Member States. We will also continue our work on addressing gaps in the legal protection against discrimination on grounds of racial or ethnic origin.
Next steps
The Commission will start discussions with the Parliament and Council to establish a list of joint legislative priorities on which co-legislators agree to take swift action.
