Climate, AI, migration to feature in von der Leyen's State of the Union address

Climate and artificial intelligence are set to feature prominently in Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the Union address, according to two officials.

Bjoern Seibert, the European Commission president's powerful head of cabinet, discussed the likely themes of the speech with the other 26 commissioners’ chiefs of staff at their traditional post-summer meeting on Friday, held this year in Jodoigne, Wallonia.

The gathering included a session dedicated to the Commission president's Sept. 16 address, which is currently being drafted, where cabinet heads pitched Seibert their departments' priorities for inclusion in the speech.

During Friday's discussion with the cabinet chiefs, Seibert linked the expected focus on climate to the damage caused by floods and wildfires over the summer, according to the two officials, who were briefed on the gathering. They were granted anonymity to discuss the closed-door talks.

The climate focus comes as von der Leyen’s Commission tries to defend its 2040 emissions-cutting target while responding to mounting pressure from industry and national capitals to limit the economic cost of the green transition.

The discussion also touched on how to present AI’s impact on jobs. Von der Leyen’s team has asked the Commission’s relevant policy units, in particular DG Connect, to provide fresh statistics for the speech on the number of jobs likely to be lost and created as AI adoption spreads, according to one of the officials.

Seibert also raised migration as a likely topic in the address, referring to the crisis in the Spanish autonomous city of Ceuta, according to one of the officials. The Commission is expected to revamp the mandate and operations of EU border agency Frontex, a third official said.

The Commission president's speech is expected to include references to social policy around the 10th anniversary of the European Pillar of Social Rights next year, alongside Ukraine and enlargement, according to one of the officials. But the topics have yet to be finalized.

The meeting was the second major opportunity for commissioners to get their priorities name-checked, with their cabinets having already submitted two- to three-page pitches to Seibert. The Commission's policy units, known as the directorates-general, also submitted documents outlining the topics they want von der Leyen to cover.

For commissioners, even a fleeting reference in the State of the Union matters. A line in the speech can propel a policy file up the executive’s political pecking order, giving cabinets every incentive to fight for space. But with limited room in one of Brussels’ most closely watched speeches, not everyone will make the cut.

Commissioners will get another opportunity to lobby von der Leyen when they gather for the traditional College seminar in Tervuren next week, marking the start of the new political season. "It will be the last chance for commissioners to catch her eye before the speech," said one of the officials.

The Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.