European Security Council (& Canada) Proposed by Von der Leyden

Sept. 15, 2026

The potential rival to NATO will come with a call for an ‘Alliance for the future’ with Canada, according to a draft

STRASBOURG – Ursula von der Leyen will propose a radical change to Europe’s security architecture and the NATO Western alliance when she takes the floor in the European Parliament on Wednesday.

Leaders from the EU, plus Ukraine, Britain, Norway, Canada and others, should convene in a new format to coordinate responses to mounting security threats, she will say according to a draft of her annual State of the EU speech seen in advance by Euractiv.

“This is even more urgent now, given the nature and scale of the risks at play. This is why we will set out our ideas to make a European Security Council a reality,” the draft speech reads.

The EU should also create a new “security protocol” – modelled on NATO’s Article 4 – which an EU member state could trigger in order to convene all others.

The NATO article allows members of the alliance to request consultations when they believe their security or territorial integrity is under threat.

“We are strengthening our work with NATO. But our doctrine, our institutions and our decision making have not kept pace with the new reality,” she will say, according to the draft.

The idea of creating a European Security Council, which has previously been floated as a Franco-German initiative, gained renewed momentum following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius repeatedly calling for its establishment.

It would emerge as a potential rival to NATO, and it’s unclear whether Mark Rutte, the NATO secretary-general, or Donald Trump, the US president, would welcome such a format.

Von der Leyen’s plan is a major departure from her previous speech in 2025.

Alliance building

In the presence of Mark Carney, the Canadian prime minister, von der Leyen will pitch Canada as a key partner for Europe, proposing an “Alliance for the future” to deepen cooperation between the two sides.

The new relationship is being touted as everything but full membership of the EU, which the Commission views as legally impossible due to the North American country’s geography.

“We want to bring the relationship with Canada to the highest level possible,” she will say, according to the draft.

She will also focus on stepping up further links with “like-minded” countries like Canada and Britain regarding AI security and safety.   

Fixing priorities

The Commission president’s speech will focus on three tipping points: climate, AI and industrial competitiveness.

She is expected to invite tech heavyweights for a discussion on pacing AI development.

Her speech will also formally announce that the EU will present a Kids Act on Thursday, and, according to previous reporting from Euractiv on the leaked text, it will limit access to online services for children under 15 years old.

“I am aware that many perceive the power of big tech as overwhelming,” von der Leyen is expected to say, adding that “Europe has the power to act. It is us who decide our rules, not big tech”.

She is also expected to announce an EU-wide heatwave plan for early-warning detection and health planning.

As previously reported by Euractiv, the Commission president will also put forward a new migration initiative following the Ceuta crisis in Spain.

Von der Leyen will propose a “European Emergency Response Framework” to guide the EU’s response to what she will define as “engineered and weaponised” mass movements.

“It will only be triggered under a strictly defined set of criteria. And in those cases, it will allow for a time-limited and strictly defined flexibility of standard procedures,” the draft reads.

This story has been updated.

(bw, jp) 

Elisa Braun and Alice Tidey contributed reporting

[Saab JAS 39 Gripen fighter jets. [Thomas Imo/Photothek for the German Federal Foreign Office via Getty Images]