EUROPEAN Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gives the most important speech of her career next week (Sept 13) in what may be her last annual ‘state-of-the-union’ address to the EU.

Almost four years into her presidency, the European Union faces a ‘cross roads’ moment in the aftermath of the pandemic and the wake of the Ukraine war. The array of challenges and opportunities facing the bloc means it is at a potentially historic tipping point between the past and a hopefully brighter, new dawn in the second half of the 2020s.

Von der Leyen hopes to lead that future by serving a second term from late 2024, but that will depend upon the ‘political horse trading’ that follows the result of next June’s European Parliament elections. Even if she does not serve as Commission president again, it is possible she may land in another big job with, for instance, US President Joe Biden reportedly wanting her to serve as the next Nato secretary general.