In an EU where generations unite for a flourishing society, people of all ages today live in a peaceful world with a thriving natural environment and socioeconomic systems that allow them to live their best lives—they have access to education, food, and housing, they can use public transportation and bicycles to get where they are going, they have access to jobs that supply them with adequate pay for a good life. At the end of their working life, they have a pension that allows them to live without financial stress. The same is true 50 years from today, as those young people retire and shift from jobs to pensions. The same is true 50 years later as their grandchildren stand in their place.
All of this requires policymaking processes to consider the long-term and cross-cutting impacts of policies on present and future generations of all ages. To do this, the EU needs to use tools and methods like strategic foresight and integrated models to look longer term. Silos need to be bridged between policy areas, and normal non-expert people, especially young people as proxies for generations not yet born, need to be consulted to know their needs, fears, and desires for the world of today and of the future. This engagement needs to be meaningful and have a real impact on policy.
Examples of institutions for future generations and intergenerational fairness from around the world can serve as examples for the EU to learn from and to build on.