FutureProofSociety delivers 70 roses to MEPs to spotlight AI, energy and Europe’s strategic future.
On 11 February, ahead of Valentine’s Day, the team from FutureProofSociety took a different kind of message to the plenary session in Strasbourg. They did not present amendments or attend committee hearings. They brought flowers.
Seventy roses were distributed to Members of the European Parliament and their staff, in a symbolic gesture aimed at “rekindling their love for the future”, and with it, renewed attention to the strategic challenges facing the European Union in the years ahead.
A policy message attached to every rose
Each rose was accompanied by a card outlining a priority policy challenge for Europe. The focus was not romantic, but strategic: artificial intelligence, energy independence, innovative manufacturing, and regulatory simplification were among the themes highlighted.
The initiative sought to translate the symbolism of Valentine’s Day into a political message. According to FPS, loving the future means approaching Europe’s next decade with ambition, clarity of purpose and the will to act.
MEPs were also invited to collect a second rose, to give to a colleague working on the same policy dossiers. The idea was to encourage cross-party and cross-committee collaboration on issues that transcend political groupings.
“Falling in love with the future again”
“Too often Europe forgets that it can afford to dream, and to build, a great future,” FPS said in a statement. “Falling in love with the future again means looking ahead with ambition, courage and clarity of intent.”
The group referenced recent remarks by Mario Draghi, arguing that political will alone can sometimes generate the clarity needed for decisive action. Reintroducing that clarity of thought, will and implementation across strategic sectors, particularly the twin energy and digital transitions, is seen by FPS as essential for the EU’s competitiveness and resilience.
Advocacy beyond symbolism
The Valentine’s gesture forms part of a broader advocacy effort by FutureProofSociety to raise political awareness around ongoing technological, economic and social transformations. The organisation promotes dialogue between institutions, experts and civil society, with the aim of anticipating risks and identifying policy responses before crises emerge.
By entering the hemicycle with roses instead of reports, FPS opted for symbolism over technicality. Yet the underlying message was explicitly political: Europe’s future competitiveness depends not only on regulation, but on imagination and coordinated action.
In Strasbourg this week, at least for a moment, policy came wrapped in petals.
