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In the State of the Union speech on 10 September 2025, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen shared key priorities and flagship projects for the year to come, building on the progress the EU has made in recent years. However, “progress” must be supported by finalizing the ongoing discussion of the Multiannual Financial Framework, MFF; and outcomes are less then certain.
Background
Since December 2024, the new European Commission has focused on making European region stronger and more resilient: thus, here were efforts in boosting states’ economies, investing in skills and housing, as well as supporting innovation in vital areas like clean technologies and artificial intelligence. At the same time, the EU has deepened global partnerships, taking more responsibility for its own defence at a time when the world becomes both more conflict-like and competitive. During the last decade, the events underscored a new geopolitical reality, where the age of great-power competition has returned; but the security architecture that Europe was able to rely on since the end of the Cold War can no longer be taken for granted.
Economic competition has grown harsher and is increasingly tied to security. The energy crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine illustrates this, as do present harsh power struggles over supply chains and trade. This directly affects the EU member states, which call for protection from unfair practices and a supportive business environment. In this sense, the EU is working to strengthen its competitiveness in traditional industries while becoming a leading hub for clean tech and artificial intelligence.
As the Commission President concluded, “people across the Union want action to address inflation, the cost of living, energy prices, the housing crisis and the growing impact of extreme weather events”: these were the main challenges that the Commission has been tackling since the start of the mandate at the end of 2024.
Source: https://commission.europa.eu/publications/state-union-2025-documents_en
Designated priorities
Below are the main directions that the Commission is taking as priorities in the years to come; hence, the need for a “common budget” to support implementation (more on the budget below):
= In competitiveness: Single Market Roadmap to 2028; Industrial Accelerator Act; Omnibus packages; 28th Regime and European Innovation Act; European Grids Package, and EU Cloud and AI Development Act.
Note. Already now, the Commission opens public discussions concerning a revise draft of the EU competition rules for technology transfer agreements, i.e. revised Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation and revised Guidelines on the legal applications (art.101) of the Treaty to technology transfer agreements. Technology transfer agreements refer to cases when one company authorises another to use certain technology rights (e.g. patents, design rights or software copyrights) to produce goods or services. Because these agreements facilitate the diffusion of technology and incentivise research and development, they are often pro-competitive, but some (restrictions in these) agreements can also have negative effects on competition.
Source: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/da/ip_25_2069
= In defence and security: Eastern Flank Watch initiative; Roadmap for European Defence Readiness and European Defence Semester; Amendment of the European Border and Coast Guard Regulation; New rules on fighting organised crime and new sanctions regime for targeting smugglers and traffickers, and Revision of the Europol Regulation.
= In European social fairness: Strategy for Outermost Regions and Agenda for Cities; Skills portability initiative; Affordable Housing Plan; European Anti-Poverty Strategy; Quality Jobs Act, and Gender Equality Strategy.
= In “Quality of life” issues: European Climate Adaptation Plan; Initiative on the Generational Renewal of Farming; Livestock strategy including elements on animal welfare; Omnibus package on food, and the Ocean Act.
= In Democracy and European values: European democracy shield; Digital Fairness Act; Media Resilience Program; Anti-corruption strategy, and Action plan against cyberbullying.
= In “global Europe”: Humanitarian Communication; Pact for the Mediterranean, and the EU–India Strategic Agenda.
Source and citations from: https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/state-union/state-union-2025_en
EU’s richest: building strategy among existing “blocks”
Since the draft budget was unveiled in the middle of July, the member states’ governance has had just enough time to brisk through hundreds of pages and start crunching how much money they would gain and lose from the Commission’s new spending plan.
More on the draft in: a) https://www.integrin.dk/2025/07/15/discussing-the-eu-long-term-budget-facing-modern-challenges/; and b) https://www.integrin.dk/2025/07/20/eu-wide-budgets-draft-for-2028-34-main-winners-and-losers/
Official budget negotiations have barely begun, but behind the scenes, civil servants from like-minded groups/camps are already gathering strength in “plotting the interests” preparing for the EU-wide meeting in October.
As it happens with every budget negotiation, countries with similar interests cooperate to develop common “attack lines”, hold joint meetings with the Commission and divide up practical tasks like “testing the formulas that allocate the money”, argued Politico.
However, present meeting -just after the SOTEU’s presentation- is the first time that top officials from the EU’s richer countries (including France, Germany and the Nordic States) have assembled to formulate a common strategy on the European Commission’s controversial €1.816 trillion budget proposal.
The meeting’s ultimate goal is to “unite a possible bloc” ahead of talks with countries such as Poland, Spain and Italy that favor higher spending, particularly on agriculture and funding to poorer regions.
Presently, there are two broad camps among the EU-27 on the Multiannual Financial Framework, MFF: on one side are the affluent “net payers” (including e.g. Sweden and France) which are contributing to the budget more than they receive from it; they are, generally, in favor of a slimmer cash pot. E.g. last March, “the net payers” agreed to earmark €175 billion for the Horizon research program, which was confirmed by the Commission shortly after.
On another side, is the so-called rival camp, known as the Friends of Cohesion: it is a broad alliance of Southern and Eastern European countries including Italy, Spain, Poland (Poland usually takes the lead as the country getting the most money out of the EU budget), etc. that favor a bigger budget, particularly, when it comes to “cohesion funds” that support the EU’s poorer member states.
There are obvious differences within each camp: e.g. net-paying France and the Netherlands have wildly different agendas on issues such as EU-level debt, which Paris favors and The Hague opposes; then, on the issue of agricultural subsidies, France is more aligned with high-spending Poland than with the members of its own club. The EU’s mediterranean states also support generous funding for poorer regions and play a stronger coordinating role inside a possible coalition.
https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-commission-budget-negotiations-vienna-meeting/
Expectations
Wednesday’s SOTEU at the EP’s plenary in Strasbourg was designed to “reset relations” over numerous long-term EU executive’s policy priorities with the Parliament’s lawmakers: such as eliminating poverty by 2050; promising a housebuilding package to end homelessness; drafting new workers’ rights protections; “doubled down” on climate targets; resolving the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, as well as proposing sanctions against key Israeli government figures.
The coming days will be decisive for the Commission President’s still fragile coalition of pro-EU political groups. Already for weeks, the centrist Renew Europe and center-left Socialist and Democrat (S&D) groupings in the EP have complained that their priorities are being ignored, but the “ruling” center-right European People’s Party (EPP) “runs the show” alone.
As the Renew Europe’s President Valérie Hayer noted recently: “we welcome (the priorities), but the real test is accountability – the member states and the EPP must follow through.”
More on “unstable” Commission President’s situation in: https://www.politico.eu/article/far-right-far-left-eu-parliament-von-der-leyen-no-confidence-motion-midnight/