This paper takes an outside-in perspective on recent public sector reforms in Europe. It selects three of the most consequential and probable external trends, and then looks at how far management reforms are anticipating them. The conclusion is that European Union government responses to predictable external trends have been limited and unstrategic. Many official studies of climate change and demographic change have been written, but concrete responses such as resource prioritization and relevant public management reforms do not seem to have been substantial. There is a disconnect between mainstream public management reforms and the biggest external pressures public sectors are now beginning to face. Academic public administration has also been slow to respond to these “megatrends,” but has considerable potential for contributing to their amelioration.
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