{"id":464621,"date":"2026-09-15T16:36:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T16:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/464621\/"},"modified":"2026-09-15T16:36:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T16:36:09","slug":"eu-chief-to-lay-out-priorities-vision-for-challenges-in-major-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/464621\/","title":{"rendered":"EU chief to lay out priorities, vision for challenges in major speech"},"content":{"rendered":"

By LORNE COOK<\/p>\n

BRUSSELS (AP) \u2014 European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will deliver a major state of the European Union speech<\/a> on Wednesday setting out her priorities for the next year and her vision for tackling the challenges faced by the world\u2019s biggest trading bloc.<\/p>\n

The content of von der Leyen<\/a>\u2019s address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, has been kept under wraps. Political groups in the assembly have lobbied to get their priorities and pet projects included.<\/p>\n

But the speech is likely to touch on AI, climate change<\/a> and the fires that have swept Europe this summer, as well as protection for children online, Russia\u2019s war on Ukraine<\/a>, conflict across the Middle East<\/a> and international trade tensions.<\/p>\n

Last year, she said<\/a> Europe must stake out its independence as the U.S. continued to impose tariffs<\/a> on nations and the Trump administration criticized the bloc\u2019s migration policies, warning of \u201ccivilizational erasure.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cEurope is in a fight,\u201d von der Leyen said. \u201cA fight for our values and our democracies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBattle lines for a New World order based on power are being drawn right now,\u201d she said, adding that the EU \u201cmust fight for its place in a world in which many major powers are either ambivalent or openly hostile to Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"French<\/p>\n

French president Emmanuel Macron, left, greets European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the International Space Summit at the Grand Palais in Paris, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. (AP Photo\/Aurelien Morissard, Pool)\n<\/p>\n

\"European<\/p>\n

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrives to attend the International Space Summit in Paris Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. (Abdul Saboor\/Pool Photo via AP)\n<\/p>\n

\"European<\/p>\n

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrives at the International Space Summit at the Grand Palais in Paris, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. (AP Photo\/Aurelien Morissard, Pool)\n<\/p>\n

\"European<\/p>\n

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers a speech at the International Space Summit at the Grand Palais in Paris, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. (AP Photo\/Aurelien Morissard, Pool)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 4<\/p>\n

French president Emmanuel Macron, left, greets European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the International Space Summit at the Grand Palais in Paris, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. (AP Photo\/Aurelien Morissard, Pool)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a>
\nA political spectacle to showcase European ambition<\/p>\n

The event has become an annual ritual modeled on the State of the Union<\/a> addresses to Congress by U.S. presidents, but it won\u2019t be broadcast widely and few of the European Union\u2019s 450 million citizens across 27 member countries are likely to tune in.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a carefully crafted communications exercise in front of often applauding lawmakers that is appreciated most by EU insiders. Von der Leyen tends to conclude with what has become her rallying cry: \u201cLong Live Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Routinely, its themes are aspirational. They touch on von der Leyen\u2019s hopes and plans for the commission \u2014 the EU\u2019s increasingly powerful executive branch \u2013 over the coming year but often lack detail. Critics say the commission\u2019s work is opaque.<\/p>\n

Eric Maurice, an analyst at the European Policy Centre think-tank, warned against her using it \u201cto placate political groups\u201d or \u201cto raise the Commission President\u2019s profile and extend the Commission\u2019s political and institutional domain.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe EU is facing the crumbling of all the premises on which it was built. The rules-based order with benevolent free-trade and U.S. friendship and support is disappearing,\u201d Maurice said.<\/p>\n

An institution\u2019s rising power and influence<\/p>\n

The commission<\/a> proposes laws used across the 27 countries and watches to ensure that those already in place are not being broken. It negotiates trade on behalf of all its members and is Europe\u2019s top antitrust investigator.<\/p>\n

At its helm stands the 67-year-old former German defense minister, who has become a prominent figure at summits with leaders around the world, despite being a political appointee who hasn\u2019t been elected to Europe\u2019s top post.<\/p>\n

Von der Leyen is hard to ignore. She has accumulated influence over 7 years in office by securing vaccines<\/a> during the COVID-19 pandemic, managing the energy crisis<\/a> sparked by Russia\u2019s invasion and support to Ukraine through the war.<\/p>\n

She also seems to have the begrudging respect of Trump. She, her chief of cabinet, and her trade commissioners have labored to limit the damage caused by Trump\u2019s tariff war to the European economy.<\/p>\n

But the Trump administration has also been riled by the commission\u2019s crackdown on Big Tech<\/a> companies, many of them in the United States, over their perceived flouting of Europe\u2019s data regulations.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the speech, the commission has set up a website dedicated to its leader and the event and has been distributing brochures laying out their achievements over the last 12 months.<\/p>\n

The list is considerable, and includes sealing new trade agreements, boosting economic competitiveness, cutting energy costs, spurring defense investment, providing billions of euros in support to Ukraine and slapping sanctions on hundreds of Russian officials and organizations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By LORNE COOK BRUSSELS (AP) \u2014 European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will deliver a major state…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":464622,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[1133,182983,131892,71722,74,76,75,182984],"class_list":["post-464621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-eu","tag-eu-chief-speech","tag-european-commission","tag-european-union","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-ursula-von-der-leyen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}