The European Council has agreed on the following key targets for the future climate and energy policy of the European Union for the period from 2021 to 2030: (1) to reduce the EU’s domestic greenhouse gas emissions by 40% relative to 1990 levels; (2) to increase the proportion of renewable energy to 27% of overall EU energy consumption; (3) to reduce projected energy consumption by 27%; (4) to increase the level in each Member State of electricity interconnections to other Member States to 15% of their installed production capacity.

By bringing infringement proceedings, the European Commission has increased the pressure on several Member States to transpose into national law the EU requirements for completion of the internal energy market. Member States will, in principle, refrain from state intervention in the internal energy market, with just a few exceptions – such as government support for renewable energy sources.

The Commission wants to improve the enforcement of intellectual property rights. Intellectual property rights, e.g. patents and trademarks, ensure that companies, inventors and creators are able to obtain a return on their investment, inventions and work. In order to improve the enforcement of these rights, the Commission, together with the "European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights", is planning ten non-legislative measures to prevent commercial scale infringements of intellectual property rights.

"Non-road mobile machinery" (NRMM) is currently subject to emission limits which have not been changed since 2004. In the European Commission's view, they no longer correspond to the state of the art. Stricter emission limits will now therefore be adopted in order to protect, in particular, human health and the environment and in order to bring EU requirements into line with those of the USA.

The European Commission used a "stress test" to examine the resilience of the European gas system and recommends measures which will have a positive impact on security of the gas supply in Europe. In particular, the Member States will cooperate to a greater extent on ensuring security of the gas supply.

The Commission discusses whether and how geographical indications for non-agricultural products can be protected EU wide. A protected geographical indication consists of a product denomination which contains the geographical origin of a product. A protected geographical indication may be used by all producers provided their products originate from the specified geographical place of origin and the products possess the established product characteristics – e.g. quality features, production methods or "reputation" – attributable to that place of origin. The Commission discusses in particular whether protected geographical indications could be entered into a central register which would be administered e.g. by the Commission. 

The EU-Commission has put forward an “Investment Plan for Europe” which is to trigger Investment of up to € 315 billion. The plan entails the establishment of an European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) and an “investment advisory hub” at the European Investment Bank. Also, the Commission aims at improving the investment environment.

In January 2011, the European Union established three European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) for the financial sector: The European Banking Authority (EBA, in London), the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA, in Frankfurt) and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA, in Paris). Currently, the Commission is reviewing the regulations governing the three ESAs and will bring forward its proposals for amendments in early 2015.