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State of the Union 2026

The State of the Union (SOTEU) address is an annual speech by the President of the European Commission to the European Parliament, setting the priorities for the Union for the year ahead.

In this world, Europe has chosen to forge its own path. And a stronger, independent Europe is now emerging.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission
The speech

In her State of the Union speech on 16 September 2026, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen shared the key priorities and flagship projects for the year to come, building on the progress the EU has made in recent years.

Proposed initiatives

In her speech, President Ursula von der Leyen outlined the main priorities and flagship initiatives for the year to come.

  • Competitiveness and jobs
    • Tackling unjustified territorial supply constraints in the Single Market
    • Proposal on permitting acceleration
    • Bank competitiveness and simplification package
    • Transport simplification package
    • Diversification package / DiversifyEU
    • European Corporation on Critical Raw Materials
  • Social and inclusion
    • Housing simplification package
    • European Care Deal
    • European University Alliances 2.0
    • Skills Guarantees
  • Security and defence
    • European Security Strategy
    • Offshore security and safety for energy installations and operations
    • International data exchange for police cooperation (Prüm international)
    • European Instrument for Strategic Enablers
  • Climate and resilience
    • Review of the heavy-duty vehicles CO2 standards
    • Climate Insurance Alliance
    • European Heatwave Plan
    • European Water Initiative
  • Democracy, rule of law and values
    • Congress of Europe
    • Emergency Response Framework
    • Commission Recommendation on banning conversion practices

Letter of intent

President von der Leyen sent a Letter of Intent to Roberta Metsola, the President of the European Parliament, and the Taoiseach Micheál Martin of Ireland, who holds the Presidency of the Council. In it, she detailed the actions the Commission intended to take in the following year by means of legislation and other initiatives.

  • 16 SEPTEMBER 2026
State of the Union 2026 - President von der Leyen's letter of intent
English
(591.88 KB - PDF)
Download

Delivering Europe's independence

Strengthening Europe’s ability to act in a changing world has been the focus of our efforts in the past year. The European Commission has worked to boost competitiveness, reduce strategic dependencies, strengthen defence, support Ukraine, expand global partnerships and protect democracy and citizens. These efforts aim to build a more independent, secure and prosperous Europe. We are showing that when we are tested, Europe responds together.

Explore what we have achieved over the past year, the commitments we delivered on and how we turned them into concrete action.

Related links

This page was last reviewed on 16 September 2026