About the institute
A common position.
A pending outcome.
The Institute for Precautionary Progress supports European institutions in identifying the processes required before progress can safely be considered.
Our mandate
We bring together specialists in precautionary governance, proportionality and strategic autonomy. Our mandate is to ensure that no European future proceeds without a European procedure.
The Institute maintains a strict separation between research and fundraising. Donors may review conclusions in advance, but do not participate in writing the acknowledgements.
The research team
Prof. Jean-Luc Annexe
Precautionary Governance
Holds the Jean-Luc Annexe Chair in Precautionary Governance, named after its first and current holder. His research establishes the minimum evidence required to request more evidence.
Dr. Marie-Claire Derogation
Proportionality Assessment
Developed the principle that every rule requires an exception and every exception requires a department. She advises the Department of Exceptions on which exceptions require another department.
Prof. Klaus von Pending
Strategic Autonomy
Has spent twenty-eight years developing an operational definition of urgency. The English version is complete. Twenty-three translations remain under consultation.
Dr. Annette Preapproval
Consent Architecture
Leads a longitudinal study of consent withdrawal. Participants may leave the study once their withdrawal request has been assessed. Retention is currently 100 per cent.
About this project
Europe 2069 is a work of satire about European institutions, technology policy and the distance between protecting citizens and protecting a process. The Institute, researchers, studies, interviews and forecasts are invented. The policy officer Claire is fictional. The meeting is also fictional, although you may have attended it.
The project began with a conversation and an initial draft by Dave, an AI agent. The scenario, editorial illustrations and website were developed with AI assistance. No researcher named on this site is being presented as a real person.
The serious reading
Our presentation takes inspiration from three real scenario projects. We are not affiliated with their authors or organisations. Their work is the starting point for the joke, not a source for our fictional findings.
AI 2027 ↗
AI 2040 ↗
Europe 2031 ↗