Von der Leyen II priorities: industry and innovation lead, social economy sidelined

Yesterday, on 10 September, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gave her long-awaited State of the European Union (SOTEU) address, her first since her re-election in June 2024.
This speech is a key moment for the Commission to outline its workplan for the year ahead, while allowing MEPs to respond and scrutinise the new priorities. This year, the address developed responses to current geopolitical challenges, particularly in Ukraine and Gaza, and presented the President’s yearly priorities as part of her 2024–2029 political guidelines.

None of the seven priorities of the von der Leyen II Commission continued directly from the six priorities of her first mandate. What felt like a sudden change of tack at the time was in fact a refocus on Europe’s competitiveness and industries. In that regard, President von der Leyen stressed in her speech the need to further simplify businesses’ operations with an upcoming EU-level “28th regime” for innovative companies and announced a Single Market Roadmap to 2028 as well as a multi-billion euro Scaleup Europe Fund. Cooperatives Europe welcomes the effort to support startups and scaleups and calls for this new Fund to support fast-growing companies beyond just tech innovation.

“Cooperative startups, across all sectors, face obstacles to accessing finance and private capital, despite their above-average survival rates and high innovative potential.

 

This new Scaleup Europe Fund is a step forward in the right direction to give our cooperative enterprises a proper opportunity to grow in the Single Market.”

said Giuseppe Guerini, President of Cooperatives Europe.

However, the social chapter of the SOTEU address was lacking. We regret that the social economy was merely mentioned, with the focus shifted to related initiatives such as the Quality Jobs Act, the housing agenda, and a brief mention of the Circular Economy Act. Another missing element of the speech was budgetary matters, a topic that is expected to dominate discussions for the next two years. The President of the Commission made no mention of adequate measures or dedicated funding to maintain strong social and cohesion policies in Europe. In a previous article, Cooperatives Europe warned against the unintended negative consequences of the proposed reorganisation of the next long-term budget (MFF): mega-funds, loss of specific earmarks, and uncertainty regarding funding allocations for social priorities.

This State of the Union address marks only the beginning of this new year. The next milestone will be the publication of the Commission’s 2026 work programme in October, which should include a clear timeline.

Read the full State of the Union address here.