2025 State of the Union address: Purpose, historical significance and overview of addresses since 2010

The practice of European Commission Presidents delivering a State of the Union address each year in September, during a plenary session of the European Parliament, began in 2010. This address reviews the achievements of the past year and outlines the priorities for the forthcoming year. It serves as an essential tool for the Commission's accountability to Parliament, aimed at making the EU-level priorities more transparent while also communicating these priorities to the public. This practice aligns with similar traditions in national democracies; for example, the United States has a long history of presidential State of the Union addresses. Unlike the US Constitution, however, the EU Treaties do not mandate a State of the Union address. The EU version of this address was established by the 2010 Framework Agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the European Commission. The European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, will deliver her fifth State of the Union address on 10 September 2025. This will be her first address during the current legislative term, since there is no State of the Union in the European Parliament election year when the Commission is being formed. The Commission President is expected to outline the main priorities and flagship initiatives for the forthcoming year, building on the EU's achievements from recent years. The theme of the address will most likely be developing responses to the current geopolitical challenges, drawing on the priorities set out in the President's political guidelines for the 2024-2029 European Commission, and the measures detailed in the Commission's 2025 work programme. This briefing further updates a briefing published regularly, with earlier versions written first by Eva-Maria Poptcheva and more recently by Rafał Mańko.