Setting out the EU’s political and policy priorities for the year ahead, von der Leyen also proposed the formation of a European Security Council, which would include the UK and Ukraine, amid an ongoing threat to the continent from Russia.
“For a long time, we have discussed a leaders’ format focused on the security of our continent, with partners like Canada, Norway, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and others involved,” she said in the wide-ranging address.
“This is even more urgent now, given the nature and scale of the risks at play. This is why we will set out our ideas to make a European Security Council a reality.”
Calls for such a body have been growing since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
It was initially a French-German conception but more countries have shown support, particularly as Trump has questioned the Nato military alliance. Other nations worry such a council could unhelpfully rival Nato.
Von der Leyen said the EU was “strengthening our work with Nato” and that expanded defence spending would be “fully aligned” with the alliance.
But at the core of such a security council would be the ability to trigger an emergency meeting if one member felt under threat, similar to Nato’s Article 4.
The EU chief said it would be a “mechanism to flank” Article 4, a term that could be interpreted as complementing Nato functions or – if taken in a military context – bypassing them.
Alongside global threats, von der Leyen also said many European families were worried about the cost of living, and the “dizzying speed of change” of technology and its impacts on jobs and society.
Other proposals included inviting the world’s largest AI labs for talks on how to support industry efforts to pace the frontier, as well as slashing bureaucracy for businesses in the EU.
Plans to curb social media use among children, including banning platforms for under 13s, were also put forward. Under the proposal, children aged 13 to 15 would only be able to set up social media accounts which are supervised by parents.
A new emergency tool to help countries better deal with mass migration movements following the deadly influx of migrants to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in July would also be outlined.
The pledge chimes with the message of European politicians on the right and hard right who have gained support in recent years for proposing a tougher approach.
Some of them called the mass attempt to enter the EU through Ceuta an “invasion” and argued asylum rules should be suspended to deal with such a crisis.
Von der Leyen said the new emergency tool would “only be triggered under a strictly defined set of criteria” and for a specific period of time, and that fundamental rights would be protected.
Human rights groups worry such a move would see vulnerable people, including women and children, turned back and denied the protection afforded to them under international law.
