THIS WEEK: Canada’s Carney attends von der Leyen’s State of the Union, as new talks on Russian frozen assets for Ukraine return to EU agenda

EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen will lay out her vision of the state of the European Union in her annual speech on Wednesday (16 September) in the European Parliament in Brussels. In a sign of deepening ties with the EU, amid Ottawa’s split with Washington, Canadian prime minister Mark Carney will attend as a guest of honour and then deliver his own address to MEPs on Thursday (17 September). This visit comes ahead of an EU-Canada summit at the end of October and amid the escalating trade war between Canada and the US, after the Trump administration imposed duties of up to 50-percent on Canadian products worth roughly $20bn [€17.26bn] and Ottawa’s responded with counter-tariffs. The commission president’s speech will launch the autumn political semester in the EU, and von der Leyen is expected to address security, migration, competitiveness and climate. She is also expected to explain her plans to restrict teenagers’ access to social media in a bid to protect minors online, which the commisison will unveil already on Tuesday (15 September). This comes after several member states, following Australia’s ban precedent in December 2025, put forward different social media restrictions on children. But the idea of a ban has already triggered pushback from digital groups and children's rights groups. The roughly one-hour plus speech will be followed by a grilling of MEPs on the executive’s plans and vision. EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen during the state of the union address in 2022 Hybrid attacks To read this story, log in or subscribeEnjoy access to all articles and 25 years of archives, comment and gift articles. Become a subscriber for as low as €1,75 per week.Read without limitsAlready a subscriber? Login