Rising inequality will be the single most prominent societal challenge for the EU in the coming decades, says a newly published report titled “Europe’s Societal Challenges. An analysis of global societal trends to 2030 and their impact on the EU”. The authors argue that because the EU is entering an era of long-term slow economic growth, it cannot rely on productivity growth as the engine for wellbeing. The EU must invest in its human resources, giving citizens the tools to seize all the opportunities that come their way, by boosting health, inclusion, education, skills and connectivity. The report, issued by the non-profit institution RAND, was commissioned by the European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS) Task Force in order to consider the long-term policy challenges the EU should prioritise for the next institutional cycle (2014-2019) and beyond. The analysts clustered these in four main themes: A new demographic reality, a new global consumer class, individual empowerment and rising inequality and vulnerable groups.