Von der Leyen's SOTEU: Key takeaways and reactions

This week, EURACTIV’s Beyond the Byline podcast brings you a breakdown of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's annual State of the European Union (SOTEU) speech on Wednesday (13 September). 

In her final SOTEU address under the current mandate, von der Leyen used the speech to lay out her achievements - and hopes for the future - for European citizens across areas such as the economy, climate change, and migration.

As rumours swirl as to whether she intends to throw her hat into the ring for a second mandate as Commission president, von der Leyen has remained staunchly silent. However, some saw elements of her speech as subtly laying the groundwork for a bid for another term.

The speech did not introduce any significant new policy initiatives, with the EU's climate package, the Green Deal, alongside the economy and migration taking up most of the space.

To break down von der Leyen's speech we spoke with Frédéric Simon (Euractiv’s Energy and environment editor), János Allenbach-Ammann (Euractiv’s Economy and Jobs editor), Sean Goulding Carroll (Euractiv’s Transport editor), Alexandra Brzozowski (Euractiv’s editor for Global Europe), Eleonora Vasques (Euractiv’s reporter on politics), Julia Tar (Euractiv’s reporter on Technology), Marta Iraola (Euractiv’s reporter on Health).