Geopolitics Review - 14th July 2025

Societal Change In The EU

Dylan Muggleton

Jul 14, 2025

Contents

Introduction
Societal Change
Concluding Remarks
Other News In Geopolitics This Week

Bitesize Edition

Last time on Thursday, I discussed a wide variety of potential technological innovations of the future, and their relevance to the European Union. In some areas, the EU clearly sits far behind other geopolitical actors such as the United States and China. However, in some areas, they do possess advantages. If the European project is to be successful, leveraging these advantages would provide great tailwinds.
For example, in the education sector, could artificial intelligence ensure hyper-personalised learning programs? Or in healthcare, could a pivot from reactive to preventative strategies see life expectancy rise even further?
It won’t all be positive if such changes do occur in this hypothetical future. In what aspects of change could we see inequality grow within the European Union? Also, how could the housing affordability crisis in Europe deepen as further innovation contributes to more societal change?
I’m aware that when we explore the future, it’s largely hypothetical in nature. But, I believe exploring potential future scenarios, we prepare ourselves if such ideas do become a reality one day. Plus, the early signs of such potential scenarios will present themselves in the present day, and so, it’s in searching for these signs today that we can find the biggest takeaways. With that said, let’s dive into this discussion.

Introduction

Last time out, I discussed potential future technological innovations in the world. This technological change can be collectively interpreted as a wider societal change. And so, today, I’ll explore how society in the EU could shift in the realms of education, labour, infrastructure, energy, shelter, and healthcare.

Societal Change

The trajectory of technological change can be a huge force for societal change. So, what changes could innovation provide in these important realms?

Education - In education, AI tutors and digital learning could widen the gap between digitally advanced nations and slower adopters within the EU. But, if funding is scaled based on digital adoption percentages, with those of less digitalisation receiving more funding, it could level the playing field. Initiatives such as the EU’s Digital Education Action Plan, or individual nation pursuits such as Germany’s “Digitalpakt Schule” could aid in this digitalisation. In a few short decades, artificial intelligence will ensure learning becomes hyper-personalised and more streamlined. To focus on some potential negative developments, brain-computer interfaces or immersive neurolearning could lead to another potential societal clash, as some reject such technology due to principle or access. Eventually, if current trends continue, the institutions of today will require massive restructuring, or they risk facing collapse due to irrelevancy. Alternatively, they could merge with the more efficient and knowledgeable AI systems. The EU will struggle to define cultural identity and collective memory in this era of digital consciousness. Consent, brain manipulation, and brain capitalism will one day become key issues in ethics and privacy.
Labour - Remote work will become more normalised, as will the gig economy. Eastern Europe will become more competitive, especially in services and technology as education expands, but the workforce will gain skills unevenly, which risks increasing inequality. Blue-collar work will continue to become more automated, and the Western EU will pivot to economies of research and development, services, and creative pursuits. The East risks becoming a digitally lagging area if not provided with the opportunity for increased skills. This is a consequence of brain drain, which could remain an issue here if inequality worsens. If this inequality persists on a continental-wide scale, basic income schemes could well begin to be debated. Thankfully, we can look to Finland’s trial of a basic income scheme between 2017 and 2019 to take some positives and negatives and learn from them. Some states may implement successful hybrid models, while others see inequality rise further and head to the extreme edges of the political scale. This also depends on whether Europe is more fiscally cooperative than it is today. In the far future, creativity will be celebrated as a core human value as the world of work shifts from one of necessity to one of more choice. But Europe’s more developed regions could continue to face migration pressure from further beyond their periphery. A defining initiative in these changes will be the European Pillar of Social Rights.

white robot near brown wall — Photo by Alex Knight on Unsplash

Energy - Smart grids and hydrogen will expand in Germany, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia. Coal phaseouts in Central and Eastern Europe could lead to a heavy reliance on nuclear, interconnectors, natural gas, and crude oil, which the rest of Europe will also rely upon heavily. Decentralised energy generation will reshape the lives of those who remain in rural environments, hopefully reducing energy poverty and inequality across the continent. The North Sea and the Mediterranean push to become green tech powerhouses with offshore wind, and potentially even tidal power. Eventually, the EU could make visible progress towards carbon neutrality, but some will contribute more to this push than others. Cross-border energy trading will spur this charge, and puts the European Union at an advantage if its strategy is collective across the continent. Despite progress, technology-enabled strategies to remain resilient against climate volatility could emerge, such as heat shelters. The Southern EU can finally limit the inequality gaps through cheap AI solar, with the East’s mountainous regions preferring to opt for wind power. One day, nuclear fusion will decentralise power. National grids will dissolve in favour of individualised energy ecosystems. Regarding food, precision farming, vertical agriculture, and climate-resilient seeds will transform global food security, even if land continues to be bought and utilised as a tool of capitalism. This could be an area where the EU emerges as a leader.
Healthcare - The digitalisation of healthcare continues, with telemedicine and predictive diagnosis becoming standard in more developed EU states. Funding gaps, if they remain, could limit this rollout to Southern and Eastern Europe. Genome research and nanomedicine will lead to another sea change in healthcare, where strategies now become preventative, not reactive. However, on a wider scale, access to this new and upcoming technology remains uneven. These preventative systems will increase lifespan gaps between richer and poorer areas. CRISPR, lab-grown organs, and programmable DNA will be key aspects of this preventive system. Data protection and privacy will become major ethical issues long before this, which risks growing into a major political battleground. In the long-term future, machine augmentation will create further clashes in society, as some people form tech-resistance movements. Could mortality even eventually become modifiable? One thing is clear: if innovation continues, we will possess more tools than ever to lengthen our lives. The ethics of life extension and imposed societal population limits will dominate EU politics, as will enhancement strategies and eugenics.

group of doctors walking on hospital hallway — Photo by Luis Melendez on Unsplash

Infrastructure - Smart cities continue to develop into industries that will be vital for the world of tomorrow, such as artificial intelligence and quantum technology. The lagging infrastructure development in the South and East of Europe could slowly improve, but with infrastructure buildout declining across the continent since the Great Financial Crisis, this would require a direct effort to reverse this trend. Still, the hyperconnected areas of Europe will continue to expand Eastwards and Southwards. Technopolises emerge as the EU’s most hyperconnected cities aim to paint the dreams of Parag Khanna into reality, as the continent sees efficient and productive trade for resources and necessities become a reality. Rising sea levels could reshape coastal cities and become a defining consideration in infrastructure projects. Migration patterns continue to shift demographics and collective identity. Cities of the future will become climate-adaptive and financially-adaptive, ruled by tech-nature paradigms under quantum breakthroughs in cryptocurrency, finance, and computational science. The blockchain will change data forever, and tokenised economies will drive future changes in ownership.
Housing - Urban planning continues to plan to optimise space, leading to the rate of urbanisation continuing to increase. However, at first, this risks raising demand as urban migration will be driven by access to employment opportunities. As a consequence, the affordability crisis deepens, deepening inequality along with it. 3D-printed homes and AI will accelerate innovation in wealthier regions. Older, lower-quality housing will lag behind in less developed nations, deepening inequality. Property rights versus digital nomadism will become a key point of discussion, especially as today, individual EU member states possess different strategies on digital nomads. We will also see renting increase as we own less and less; a consequence of a tokenised economy. Technology-enabled communal living could increase to tackle ageing populations, despite older generations generally rejecting such technology. Shelter will be redefined in the future, with homes becoming digital constructs, such as those in the metaverse, just as much as a physical place. For some, derealisation and anxiety will rise as the border between digital worlds and reality blurs. For others, they will reject technology, preferring a life focused on the one real world that we’re lucky enough to have.

These potential changes I discuss today aren’t exactly specific to Europe. But, as an incredibly ambitious project, the European Union will face a larger challenge in making decisions in addressing these changes if they do arise. For specific sources and initiatives that support many of these scenarios I’ve presented today, I discussed them in my post last Thursday.

Geopolitics Review Extra - 10th July 2025

Dylan Muggleton

Jul 10

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Bigger geopolitical powers experience slower growth. There is less space to grow into, unless dramatic innovation opens new gains to be had, where technological leaders typically battle for market share. In this case, it’s a scrap amongst the most technologically advanced in the world for who becomes the leading player.

Europe does face a problem here when compared to other geopolitical actors. However, it could have a head start in some areas of innovation, such as regulation and quantum technology. But, they will struggle with scale versus the United States and China unless their entire system grows along with these elements of society. As I discussed in the introduction, these scenarios discussed above are hypothetical, especially as we look further out into the future. But if Europe is to become a geopolitical superpower in its own right, we should be seeing signs of seeds being sown today. It’s in that idea that I hope this post can be framed.

white red and green map — Photo by Christian Lue on Unsplash

Concluding Remarks

As much as the European Union gets a bad rap, they have clear strategies in wide-ranging areas. This doesn’t guarantee success, of course, but it shows ambition and coordination on a level we’ve never seen before.

Still, there are many more aspects to discuss in this series, such as defence and conflict, demographics, the environment, and politics. These are also aspects that can and will affect societal change moving forward.

For example, real-life questions such as whether Europe can afford expanded defence spending? Trump has made it clear that he wants 5% of GDP for defence spending targets. Is this even possible for all EU states, and what effects will we see as a result of this rearmament trend in Europe? We can also see that war returned to Europe when Russia invaded Ukraine. But are we seeing other hidden wars unfold within Europe? Namely, what is occurring in the Baltic Sea? Also, what role is NATO playing here, and will it continue to influence geopolitical tensions within Europe? I’ll discuss all next time.

I’ll then wrap up this discussion on Europe with a deeper dive into purpose. Will Europe becoming a leader in regulation, green tech, soft power, or trade enable it to pull out a seat at this geopolitical superpower table? Or will they be left behind in sectors that determine real power, such as militarily and in space, and thus will they not even be discussed in the same room as superpowers such as China and the United States?

This all can boil down to: What does Europe want to be truly known for? That’s the overall purpose of this series of posts, so please keep an eye out for this discussion and much more over the coming weeks!

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Geopolitics Review Extra - 10th July 2025

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