2025 swipe and I'm in 2040. Nature has barely changed. I leave my home which is now altered with a spherical rotating solar panel roofing. My car that can fly about 1 meter high approaches at my indication by a voice prompt and opens the doors to get in. I am welcomed by a computer voice asking where I want to go. Floating, the ride begins. My car uses hydrogen and is nature friendly. I sink relaxed into the massage seat and hear the messages that were sent to my built-in chip in my body. Where is the nostalgic time of the smartphone. Along the way I see massive drones flying all kinds of messages to customers. There is also a drone on its way perhaps to my home. This will be met by Sittu my house robot who does all the housework like cleaning, cooking and chores. It is weekend and my spouse is already to our daughter and granddaughter. I am now going to pick her up to shop together at the Dixi Tower where you can now do all types of shopping. Gone are the many stores, supermarkets and local grocers. Where is the time of 2025 when you could still cozy up.

I hope that, despite all the obstacles, Europe will grow even closer together in order to overcome global challenges. Many of these challenges can only be mastered if not only purely national interests are represented, but if Europe approaches things with common goals. Defense, securing energy supplies, more social justice. I also hope that Europe manages to fight back against populism and falsehoods.

2050. Sunrise over Rome's Old Town paints the sky a soft orange colour. The city wakes quietly, but already the whisper of electric vehicles and the light gust of wind carrying the salt of the Mediterranean can be heard. Europe has changed dramatically in the last 25 years. The climate crisis has forced countries to focus on renewable energy, and cities have become greener, with polluting cars virtually disappearing from the streets, replaced by autonomous electric cars and bicycles. Food production has also changed: vertical farms have solved product shortages and lab-grown meat has become a common choice. Today, my plans include a quick trip to Paris on the hyper-trains that now connect all Europe's major cities. The journey will take just an hour - time for a cup of coffee and a short chat with friends via hologram. Life has become more convenient, but have people become happier? That's what we're still looking for.

Now, in 2040, I'm enjoying the sweetness of life in my senior residence. I'm 80 years old, and despite my various pathologies, medical progress has enabled me to be a "healthy patient"... 15 years ago, people of goodwill from all countries and religions decided to join forces against a common enemy: global warming. Humanity, united at last, turned its back on murderous, sterile wars. Since then, technical, ecological and medical progress has been phenomenal. This will allow me to live well for another few decades.