With the tortuous process of the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union (EU) finally moving to completion, civil society attention fell on what the EU, with its 27 remaining member states, might look like. As the world’s most powerful international union of states, how the EU acts and what priorities it decides to pursue can have global significance. Renewal, and a process of consultation with European citizens, was supposed to be a highlight of 2020, but like other international institutions, much of the EU’s energy was spent on trying to respond to the pandemic.