Please find attached a FESI recap on today’s long awaited annual EU highlight the State of the Union Speech. The SOTEU is the annual speech by the President of the European Commission to the European Parliament, outlining the EU’s current situation, achievements, and priorities for the year ahead.

President von der Leyen framed 2025-26 as Europe’s “independence moment”, anchoring her second-term agenda in defence, competitiveness and social fairness, while keeping the Green Deal as a core industrial strategy. Notable new moves include a “Made in Europe” criterion in public procurement, an Industrial Accelerator Act, a European Grids Package, a Battery Booster, a Scale-up Europe Fund, and a suite of social measures (Affordable Housing Plan, Quality Jobs Act, anti-poverty strategy). Geopolitically, she proposed sanctions and a partial trade suspension targeting Israel, tougher Russia sanctions, and defended the contentious EU–US trade deal.

What was announced (most important to us):

1. Competitiveness & industrial policy

• Industrial Accelerator Act
• Single Market Roadmap to 2028
• EU Cloud & AI Development Act to speed up deployment and scale-ups in strategic tech
• A new Scale-up Europe Fund will back fast-growing firms
• A “Made in Europe” procurement criterion will steer demand toward EU-made products
• Battery Booster to expand European cell/pack manufacturing capacity
• More Omnibuses

2. Green Deal, circularity & resilience

• Renewed push on the circular economy and lead markets for clean, innovative products
• European Climate Adaptation Plan to boost resilience
• Ocean protection via a forthcoming Ocean Act

3. Trade

• Von der Leyen defended the EU–US trade deal amid criticism (US side levies broad 15% tariffs on EU exports under the framework)
• She also flagged a long-term instrument to replace expiring steel safeguards by 2026.

4. Energy security & infrastructure

• European Grids Package to modernise electricity networks and speed connections; a complementary “Energy Highways” initiative to tackle eight critical bottlenecks.

What’s next (process cues):

The Letter of Intent lists the 2025–26 legislative queue. Some of the key new initiatives are:

• Single Market Roadmap to 2028
• Industrial Accelerator Act
• More Omnibus packages
• 28th Regime and European Innovation Act
• EU Cloud and AI Development Act

Expect proposals to land through 2025/early 2026 and feed the 2026 Work Programme.

FESI will monitor the developments of each topic in relation to our respective Committee work and will keep members informed and engaged.

More information:

Click here to consult the SOTEU website.

Click here to read the full speech.

Click here to read the letter of intent.

Click here to read the timeline of the first year of the vdL II Commission.