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Fair Labour Mobility Package
On 15 September 2026, the European Commission adopted the Fair Labour Mobility package to guarantee clear social rights for everyone, everywhere in the EU, regardless of where they choose to live and work. The package will enable workers to prove and claim their social security and health insurance rights, and have their qualifications understood everywhere in the EU and formally recognised where the profession is regulated. New rules and tools will better protect mobile workers from abuse and remove slow and complex administrative procedures that hinder companies from recruiting talent or providing services across the EU. National administrations will benefit from more efficient cooperation to enforce workers’ rights and to fight fraud. More information is available in our press release, questions and answers, and three factsheets: strengthening the European Labour Authority, digital European Social Security Pass, and Skills Portability Initiative.
European Artic Summit in Finland
The European Arctic Summit took place in the northern Finnish city of Rovaniemi from 13 to 14 September 2026. The Arctic Region is of a high geopolitical importance for European countries, and the summit aimed to strengthen a common approach of geopolitics among European leaders concerning stability, security and sustainable development. Numerous heads of state attended the summit during which High Representative Kaja Kallas, Commissioner Jozef Síkela, and European Council President António Costa represented the European Union.
International Space Summit in Paris
On 10 September 2026, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addressed the International Space Summit in Paris, France. In her speech, President von der Leyen stated that space has become indispensable to Europe’s economy, security and everyday life, and emphasised that the European Union must remain a strong and dependable space power.She underscored the importance of increasing investment in innovation and resilience, safeguarding critical space infrastructure, reinforcing Europe’s autonomous launch capabilities, and deepening cooperation with partners while ensuring fair competition. She further stressed that Europe’s space policy should serve to strengthen defence, climate monitoring, connectivity, and technological leadership. For the full transcript of the President's speech, see here.
President von der Leyen in Nuuk: EU–Greenland deal can change the Arctic's future
On 7 September 2026, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen held a press conference in Nuuk, Greenland, to reinforce the EU's continuous support to Greenland and how the EU-Greenland deal can change the Arctic’s future. The EU and Greenland have deepened their partnership through a Joint Declaration, a €200 million Partnership Package, and a pipeline of concrete initiatives.The cooperation prioritises connectivity, clean energy, and critical raw materials. Investments are aimed at strengthening resilience, energy security, jobs, and economic growth. The partnership also focuses on housing, sustainable tourism, youth opportunities through Erasmus+, and increased long-term EU funding, potentially reaching €530 million through 2034. The EU reaffirmed its solidarity with Greenland and Denmark, while emphasising Greenland's right to determine its future and committing to a stronger strategic role in the Arctic. Read the full speech here.
State of the European Union 2026 (SOTEU)
On 16 September 2026, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivered the annual State of the European Union (SOTEU) address. SOTEU is a yearly speech delivered by the President of the European Commission to the European Parliament, outlining the priorities for the Union for the year ahead. Concerning the transmission, read further updates for broadcasters in this Infosheet (SOTEU). In this year's speech, President von der Leyen highlighted the need for a stronger, more competitive and more sovereign Europe in response to geopolitical, economic and climate-related pressures. She placed major emphasis on industrial policy and competitiveness, including support for clean technologies, innovation, investment and reducing dependencies in critical sectors. A second key area is the green transition, with continued focus on climate neutrality, affordable clean energy and scaling up Europe’s net-zero industry while keeping the transition fair for citizens and businesses. She also underlined security and defence, arguing for greater European resilience, stronger support for Ukraine and deeper cooperation on defence capabilities and strategic interests. Finally, her speech stressed social cohesion and democracy, linking Europe’s economic transformation to skills, quality jobs, fairness and the protection of democratic values.
Passing away of Siim Kallas, former Vice-President of the European Commission
On 22 August 2026, Siim Kallas, former Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of transport, passed away. Through his public career, he helped shape Estonia's EU path and key European policies, from transport to administration.
Artificial Intelligence
The race for leadership in AI is far from over. From cutting-edge foundation models to specialised AI applications, the AI landscape in the EU is dynamic. It is driven by research, emerging technologies and a thriving ecosystem of startups and scaleups. The AI Continent Action Plan will boost the European Union's AI innovation capabilities through actions and policies around five key pillars. On 8 October 2025, Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen, announced the "Apply AI Strategy" and the "European AI in Science Strategy". The strategies aim to integrate Artificial Intelligence into the EU's key industries, and to focus on research for AI, and using AI in European science across all fields. Find information on the newly announced AI strategies here. See here for more on the Comission's plan to boost AI. On 2 August 2026, the European Commission's AI Office, together with national authorities, began enforcing the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act. On the same date, new transparency rules started to apply, requiring certain AI systems to tell users when they are interacting with AI and when content has been generated or altered by it. Under the new rules, chatbots and other interactive AI systems will have to tell users they are dealing with AI, not a human. Deepfakes (images, videos, or audio that have been edited or generated using AI) will have to be labelled. AI-generated or altered content will also have to carry machine-readable marks so it can be detected more easily. The measures are intended to reduce deception and manipulation and help people make informed choices. They also give businesses clearer obligations and a practical way to show compliance.
European response to situation in Ceuta
In light of recent developments in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta, a press conference was held on 4 August 2026 with Commissioner Magnus Brunner.
Fighting wildfires in the EU
Ongoing wildfires have triggered one of the biggest evacuation operations in Europe, displacing more than 300,000 people in France and Spain. The EU has deployed assistance to both France and Spain under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. In France, the EU has deployed seven planes and four helicopters from Czechia, Croatia, Germany, Portugal, Slovakia, Sweden, and Türkiye. Most of these aircraft are part of the rescEU firefighting fleet. In Spain, the EU has mobilised six planes from Greece, Italy and Türkiye, and deployed134 personnel and 41 vehicles from Portugal. The EU's Copernicus satellite service is also providing rapid emergency maps to support the response on the ground. The EU's Emergency Response Coordination Centre remains in close contact with both the French and Spanish authorities, to assess what further support can be potentially mobilised, and a liaison officer from the European Commission is in Bordeaux to help national authorities coordinate EU assistance. As part of the EU's preparedness measures ahead of this year's wildfire season, firefighting teams from other European countries had already been pre-positioned in France and Spain before the fires began, allowing them to reinforce national responders immediately.
European Pillar of Social Rights
On 22nd July 2026, theEuropean Commission adopted a Communication on the European Pillar of Social Rights. It confirms that the Pillar remains the EU’ssocial shield and compass for fairness in an age of fast transformation, for aEurope that protects and empowers citizens. The Communication assesses progressmade in strengthening social rights across the EU and identifies concretepriorities for further action. It also charts the way for anticipating andmanaging structural change, so as to seize the opportunities of ongoingtransformations and ensure that Europe's social model continues to deliverfairness and prosperity. TheCommunication highlights three areas which require urgent, additionalattention. New and rapidly evolving, these are complementary to ongoingCommission initiatives on jobs, skills, mobility and poverty reduction:addressing affordability and the cost of living; harnessing artificialintelligence (AI) for the future of work and shared prosperity; and reducinginequalities and expanding fairness and equal opportunities. Find more information on our Press Corner.