CEPS Ideas Lab: welcome to the 2026 edition

The CEPS Ideas Lab - is back for its 13th edition offering insights into some of the most relevant questions Europe is facing in the 21st century. One of Brussels´ most respected invitation-only policy forums, it brings together policymakers, researchers, industry leaders and civil society for a two-day debate at The Square.

The 2026 edition spans Europe's security architecture and industrial strategy, digital sovereignty, the future of work, and the race for quantum leadership, with speakers including former Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta, former IMF Managing Director Nadia Calviño, and WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Since 2014, Ideas Lab has built a reputation as a genuine ideas factory, not a space for polished talking points, but rather frank, consequential conversations, with concrete action points and outcomes. At a time of shifting alliances, rising hybrid threats and an increasingly fragmented global order, the timing could not be more consequential.

Explore the full programme and join the conversation!