Ultimately, Von der Leyen’s 2025 State of the Union was less a roadmap for Europe’s future than a catalogue of failures repackaged as triumphs. As usual, it blamed external enemies — Russia, China, disinformation — for Europe’s woes, while ignoring the real problem: the EU’s own supranational model, with its rigid political and economic constraints. By calling for even more centralisation, including an end to unanimity in key policy areas, von der Leyen signalled her intent to double down on the very policies that have weakened Europe. What she offered was not renewal, but more of the same — an ever more militarised, dependent and authoritarian Union.
