{
  "id": 7400931,
  "title": "Von der Leyen U-turns, will attend landmark Carney speech",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/14/von-der-leyen-u-turns-will-attend-landmark-carney-speech",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-14T20:53:51.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Politico EU",
    "slug": "politico-eu",
    "url": "https://www.politico.eu/article/ursula-von-der-leyen-u-turns-will-attend-landmark-mark-carney-speech/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will attend Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Thursday, overturning her earlier decision to skip the speech. This change of heart occurred after Commission spokesperson Paula Pinho informed POLITICO that von der Leyen would miss the address due to \"prior commitments\" in Brussels, including the presentation of a new child online safety law. Pinho later revealed that the press conference and a presentation by Commission Executive Vice President Virkkunen had been rescheduled to Thursday morning in Strasbourg.\n\nCarney is set to attend von der Leyen's State of the Union speech on Wednesday prior to addressing MEPs on Thursday, where he is expected to advocate for a closer partnership between the EU and Canada. The news that von der Leyen would not attend Carney's address had sparked outrage among some Members of the European Parliament. Belgian Social Democrat Kathleen van Brempt criticized von der Leyen's decision, calling it \"bad manners\" and \"unacceptable.\" Liberal Irish MEP Barry Andrews described the non-attendance as \"surprising\" and questioned why von der Leyen had not provided an explanation for her decision.",
  "summary": "Initial decision to skip Canadian prime minister's speech had raised eyebrows among EU lawmakers.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Politico EU",
        "title": "The ideas shaping von der Leyen’s pitch to Carney",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/13/the-ideas-shaping-von-der-leyens-pitch-to-carney",
        "published": "2026-09-13T16:42:15.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}