Commission's State of the European Union 2026 address: sustainability takeaways

On 16 September 2026, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivered the State of the European Union address (“Address” or “SOTEU”). This is the Commission President’s annual speech to the European Parliament, which is used to set out the Commission’s political priorities for the year ahead. 

The Commission President identified climate change and AI as the “tipping points of our time”.  She reaffirmed the EU’s climate targets, placed greater emphasis on climate adaptation and resilience, and outlined measures on clean energy, critical raw materials, simplification, and AI. However, the legislative detail will be set out in the Commission’s Work Programme which is expected to be published on 20 October 2026.

See below for the key sustainability takeaways from the Address. 

Climate change: staying the course on targets but greater focus on resilience

The Commission President reaffirmed the EU’s existing climate targets, stating that Europe would “stay the course”, rejecting calls to dilute ambition. She also referred to the 2026 “summer of truth”, citing 660,000 hectares burned, 12 million tonnes of crops lost, more than 35,000 additional deaths during the heatwaves, and noting that Europe is warming at double the global rate.

The Address indicates a clear shift towards adaptation and resilience, alongside mitigation. A new Climate Resilience Framework will be presented in October 2026. The Commission also wants to make the EU the “champion in adaptation technologies”, which it views as a “huge” emerging market.

There will also be a European Heatwave Plan (covering early warning, health preparedness and urban cooling), a European Water Initiative (addressing scarcity, food security and pipe leakage), a Climate Insurance Alliance (given that only around 25% of catastrophe losses in Europe are covered by private insurance), and proposals for a future European Firefighting Fleet.

Clean energy and electrification

Clean energy remains central to the Commission’s economic and climate agenda. The Commission President cited an additional €90 billion in fossil-fuel import costs since the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and set an ambition to double the share of electricity in the EU’s energy mix by 2040, which she said could reduce the EU’s fossil-fuel import bill by €260 billion a year.

The approach remains technology-neutral, spanning renewables, nuclear, biomethane and other sources. 

Grid capacity was identified as a priority: more than 80 GW of renewable capacity was installed last year, with six times more waiting to be connected. The Commission said it will put forward proposals to further speed up permitting for projects in Europe’s strategic interests.

Critical raw materials and supply security

The Commission will establish a new European Corporation on Critical Raw Materials to help the EU procure and stockpile materials for electric vehicles, chips and batteries, clean tech and defence. The Commission President reiterated that the EU is more than 80% dependent on China for many critical raw materials, and 90% for some rare earths.

The proposal builds on the framework established by the Critical Raw Materials Act but reflects continuing concern that diversification efforts have not kept pace with those of competitor jurisdictions. Further detail on how the Corporation will operate, including its funding model, governance and interaction with existing tools, is expected in due course.

Simplification, permitting and gold-plating

The Commission claims its existing 12 omnibus proposals are reducing administrative burden by around €17 billion a year but in order for those simplification efforts not to be wasted, it said the EU needs a new “pact against gold-plating” and called on Member States not to add national requirements when transposing EU rules. 

The Commission said it will put forward proposals to further speed up permitting but stopped short of announcing a new “permitting omnibus". 

Artificial Intelligence

The Commission identified AI as the “second tipping point of our times”. 

From a sustainability lens, the Commission wants to boost the EU’s computing capacity “massively” but this should be done in a in a clean and energy efficient way: “We want AI ... at a lower cost and with less energy consumption…”.

Next steps

The Commission’s Work Programme (expected on 20 October) will fill in the detail behind many of the announcements, including a Climate Resilience Framework (expected on 28 October) and a Circular Economy Act (expected on 11 November). It remains to be seen whether the Commission will propose a new “permitting omnibus”.