European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen used her annual State of the European Union address in Strasbourg on Wednesday to propose two significant departures in EU policy: an offer to Canada to become the bloc’s first “associate member”, and EU-wide rules that would bar children under 13 from social media.

A membership category that does not exist

The associate-member offer is the more structurally unusual of the two. The status is not set out in the bloc’s treaties, Reuters reported via the Daily Mirror, and the EU has historically resisted flexible membership categories. Members reacted coolly when Germany proposed associate membership for Ukraine in May as a stepping stone to full accession.

“Partnerships are a strategic choice for Europe. But they also respond to the fracture in the international rules-based system,” von der Leyen told the European Parliament. “We see the world with the same eyes: from AI to climate change, from the Arctic to geopolitics… But above all, Europe and Canada believe in democracy.”

She said the two sides would work on intelligent manufacturing, create a technology alliance, integrate their defence industrial bases and make the Arctic a joint flagship project.

The timing is pointed. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said earlier in the week that Canada wanted a “unique alliance” with the EU but not membership, according to NewsFirst, carrying a CNA report. His European trip follows a breakdown in Canada–US relations after trade talks collapsed last month and both sides imposed tit-for-tat tariffs. Von der Leyen invited Carney to Strasbourg, where he was due to address the Parliament on Thursday.

She appeared conscious of how the move would read in Washington, adding that “this is a partnership not against anyone else.”

No account before 13, no personal account before 15

The second announcement was a proposed Kids Act, which the Commission was due to table on Thursday, CNN reported via the Daily Mirror.

“No social media under the age of 13. No personal account under the age of 15,” von der Leyen said. Children aged 13 and 14 would be allowed supervised “mini accounts” with limited features, capped at one hour per day.

The proposal would reverse the burden of proof, requiring platforms to demonstrate that their services are safe for minors rather than requiring regulators to show they are not. Most large platforms already claim to bar under-13s, but online safety researchers have long questioned whether those rules are enforced in practice.

“I am aware that many perceive the power of big tech as overwhelming and impossible to roll back. I disagree,” she said. “It is us who decide the rules, not Big Tech.”

Why it may take years

The Kids Act must be approved by individual member states, several of which have already moved on their own. France became the first EU country to ban social media for under-15s after a parliamentary vote in July — but its Constitutional Court subsequently struck the ban down. Spain, Denmark and Sweden are pursuing their own age restrictions. Australia became the first country worldwide to ban social media for under-16s in December 2025.

Lauro Fava, a partner at the law firm Pinsent Masons, described the proposed act as “a new EU behemoth” comparable to the Digital Services Act and the AI Act, but argued affected companies would benefit from “a single, coherent, and potentially more balanced rulebook” instead of a patchwork of national laws.

On artificial intelligence, von der Leyen said she was optimistic the technology could “benefit humanity if we get it right”, while warning of “massive risks” including “hacking on a level we never thought possible”. She said she would invite the leading AI labs for talks on how the EU can support industry efforts to slow the pace of development — something the heads of Anthropic, OpenAI and xAI have each called for in recent days.

Not reported

None of the reports states what legal instrument would create an associate membership absent a treaty basis, what obligations or rights the status would carry, or whether existing member states have been consulted. None gives a timetable for the Canada proposal, and none reports how the Kids Act would verify users’ ages — the question on which France’s own ban foundered in court.