On 16 September 2026, Ursula von der Leyen - President of the European Commission, focused her State of the Union address on maintenance of the unity of the Union as a strong “European idea” and as a “common home”. Concrete plans for actions covered a wide swath of initiatives – including on artificial intelligence (AI) and its use for health. Other ventures included advances on the economy, energy, fair competition, peace in Europe and beyond, and democratic resilience. Practical steps emphasised going faster on actions and reducing administrative burdens.
Source: European Commission
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As the Commission President said, citing work to be done on five important industrial sectors, “The key is creating the value that AI has not yet delivered. …” |
And in more detail?
Later the same day, Olivér Várhelyi - Commissioner for Health & Animal Welfare, synthesised the President’s message.
He reported that:
[European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen] “sent a strong message on the future of healthcare in Europe: we need to turn our world-class health data, science and expertise into better prevention, earlier diagnosis and better care for patients. Artificial intelligence can help us do this. … The principle is clear: AI should empower our doctors, not replace them. Health will be one of the five priority sectors where Europe will focus on accelerating the use of industrial AI. With our high-quality data and strong health and research ecosystems, we now need to turn that advantage into innovation that reaches patients faster and strengthens our healthcare systems.”
In his LinkedIn words:
“Together with the #EuropeanHealthDataSpace, providing the trusted foundation for better use of Europe’s health data for research & innovation, these initiatives can help turn our scientific strengths into better outcomes for patients.”
Among several other initiatives,Commissioner Várhelyi drew attention in his synthesis to the European Health Data Space (EHDS).
Besides the attention drawn to health in generally, the speech alerted Europeans to two major tipping points, AI and climate change. These two watersheds have enormous importance for health and care implementers. Among the President’s important examples related to the health sector were hospital wards and care homes, but more generally infrastructures and networks.
What does the speech therefore mean for digital health implementers?
On health, we’re proud in EHTEL to be gearing our own initiatives to AI and electronic health record (EHR) systems data:
- Focus our 2027 Thought Leader EHTEL Symposium on “From Data Compliance to Data That Works”. The symposium aims to add value through its work to the EHDS. Watch out for more news soon on this 26-27 January 2027 event.
- Work on an upcoming, complementary EHTEL policy paper on data that works.
- And already to have produced in 2026 several working papers and briefing papers that were oriented towards what digital health implementers need to be aware of around AI and, particularly, what AI can actually do.
Overall, let’s continue to bear in mind, President von der Leyen’s own words:
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“The key is creating the value that AI has not yet delivered. On the factory floor. On the hospital ward. In precision agriculture. In our energy grids. For autonomous driving. For defence”. |