The speech made by Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, on 14 January 2026.
Thank you, dear Antonio, for sharing your ‘home’ with us.
Dear Presidents and Vice-Presidents of the European Institutions,
Dear President of the Belgian Senate,
Dear Ministers,
Honourable Members of the European Parliament,
Excellencies,
Dear Ambassadors,
Dear Directors-General,
Dear colleagues and friends,
And dear students of the European School,
Happy 2026 from me and the whole College. Let me start by saying how much I cherish this tradition. It is so nice to come together for a toast and to listen to the music of the European School, before we dive in the difficult business of the year ahead. Because it will be another challenging year, and these first two weeks are proof of that. Every day, new events unfold that could reshape our world for generations, from Greenland to Iran. And of course, this can feel unsettling. But I think we, Europeans, have a very clear mission ahead of us. A goal that shall drive us in everything we do and give us a clear sense of direction in an unpredictable world. I am talking about the mission of an independent Europe. Different people may have different views about what this means. But to me, it boils down to something quite simple – that is having the freedom and the power to shape our own future. Today, I would like to briefly touch upon three ways we can do so.
Starting with peace and security in our continent. Less than one month ago, dear António, we agreed to jointly raise EUR 90 billion for Ukraine. To put it simply – our Union will support most of Ukraine’s needs, including military, for the next two years. Four years ago, when Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, no one believed that Ukraine would survive, and that Europe would stand ironclad by Ukraine’s side. And even more, that there would be a Coalition of the Willing agreeing to robust security guarantees. And on the broader topic of European defence, we have done more in the past year than in the past decade. This work must and will continue in the year ahead. And the message is clear: Peace and security in Europe depend first and foremost on us, and we are taking full responsibility for it.
Second, on prosperity and competitiveness. 2025 was a year of export controls and tariffs. So it is clear that we must drastically cut our dependencies. But we must also make much better use of the power that comes from our massive Single Market. For instance, we are building a deep and liquid capital market, with the Savings and Investment Union, so that companies can access the capital they need here at home. And we will soon propose the so-called 28th regime, so that businesses can operate under a single set of rules across our Union. We want our companies to find the best conditions to grow right here in Europe. This is also what it means to be more independent.
But independence is not isolation. A more independent Europe can only be built on an even broader network of partnerships – with old and new friends. Mercosur and Europe have chosen a common path. We have chosen trade over tariffs, partnership over polarisation. With the Mercosur agreement, we are building a market worth almost 20% of the global GDP. With 31 countries and over 700 million people, we are sending a message of cooperation to the world. And a message of stability to our people and our businesses.
Dear Ambassadors,
We are at work with many of you, to renew and expand our partnerships. We hope to conclude our negotiations with India and Australia. Next in line are the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, the UAE, and more. Europe is open-minded for business. So let us keep the conversations going.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I want to conclude with the words of the great Austrian poet Rilke. He wrote: ‘And now, let us believe in the long year that has been given to us. New, untouched, full of things that have never been.’ This is my wish to all of us for the new Year. May we be able to build things that have never been and achieve what just yesterday seemed impossible.
Thank you, and long live Europe.