European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, speaking on 3 July 2026 alongside Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin in Cork, outlined five shared priorities for the Irish Presidency of the Council of the EU: competitiveness, security, the next long-term budget, housing, and enlargement. The speech contained a mix of concrete proposals and declaratory commitments, with several new initiatives announced.
On competitiveness, von der Leyen announced that the Commission will table a new energy package in July, including a target to boost electrification and modernisation of the emissions trading system. She also highlighted the Tech Sovereignty Package to strengthen EU capacity in chips, AI, cloud, and language models. The President called for rapid progress on the Savings and Investment Union to end capital market fragmentation, and urged agreement on EU Inc, a single rulebook for innovative companies, by end of 2026. She noted that six of ten omnibus simplification bills have been adopted, with four remaining to be finalised during the Irish Presidency.
On security, von der Leyen welcomed Ireland's decision to increase defence spending by 55% by 2030 and said the EU would continue advancing defence readiness through the SAFE programme, under which loan agreements worth €100 million have been signed with ten member states. She also reported that over €3 billion in budget support and the first part of €6 billion for air defence have been disbursed from the €90 billion Ukraine Loan, and that the EU is working on a structural defence industrial partnership with Ukraine.
Regarding the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), von der Leyen noted that the Council agreed on the budget architecture in June 2026 and called for a revised negotiation box by the October European Council, including a shared understanding on financing, to ensure the budget is ready by 1 January 2028.
On housing, von der Leyen announced plans to launch a European Housing Alliance and convene a high-level European Housing Summit under the Irish Presidency, framing it as a defining social challenge.
On enlargement, she welcomed the opening of the first accession cluster with Ukraine and Moldova, and expressed support for completing accession negotiations with Montenegro this year. She praised Ireland's historic role in the 2004 enlargement and its own success story as an argument for further expansion.
The speech did not include numerical targets or budget figures beyond those already announced, and several proposals – such as the energy package and Tech Sovereignty Package – were presented as forthcoming rather than detailed. The overall policy orientation shifts towards deeper EU integration in industrial capacity, defence, and fiscal coordination, while maintaining a pro-trade stance through diversification and rapid ratification of deals with India and Mexico.