The Health Policy Dimension of SOTEU 2026: Health Preparedness, Resilience and Competitiveness

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivered her 2026 State of the European Union (SOTEU) address this year on 16 September 2026 in Strasbourg. She shared the key priorities and policy initiatives for the year to come, repeatedly referring to health policy issues high on the political agenda. In this briefing, we summarise her references to health policy issues and provide background to the different initiatives she touched upon, notably in relation to the European Care deal, Climate resilience and health preparedness, artificial intelligence (AI) for health, and Mental Health.