The one-and-a-half-day high-level closed-door summit takes place just before Spain begins its six-month takeover of the EU presidency.
Is Europe entering uncharted territory? Experts say geopolitical risk, the energy transition, technology and artificial intelligence are reshaping the EU.
More than 75 high-level representatives from the public and private spheres discussed the future of Europe at the European Concordia Summit in Madrid on Thursday.
“In terms of energy security, of course, with the war in Ukraine, this is front and centre and what will happen for Europe, for the continent, and how this affects global markets as well,” Matthew Swift, co-founder of Concordia Summit, told Euronews.
The war in Ukraine has forced the EU to take complex decisions to reduce its energy dependency from Russia.
This transition has economic costs on budgets as Jose Manuel Durao Barroso the Former President of the European Commission explained: "We are seeing here and there, including in countries that are very much committed to the climate goals, there is some pushback, but I believe the arguments in favour of sustainability and decarbonisation will win because of the pressure of the current geopolitical situation.
"From Europe's point of view, it's very important not to be dependent on energy coming from elsewhere,” he added.
Russian attacks are not taking place only on the battlefield.
Cyberdefence and artificial intelligence were other hot topics at the conference.