President Ursula von der Leyen’s 2026 State of the Union address marked a further step in the political recognition of the Freedom to Stay as a broader European objective.

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Looking ahead to the European Pillar of Social Rights’ tenth anniversary, President von der Leyen pledged to invest in Europe’s regions so that everyone has the “Right to Stay”, while also announcing a European Care Deal and action on housing. She subsequently announced a summit with European Council President António Costa to uphold the principles of the Social Pillar.
 

The European Pillar of Social Rights is inherently cross-sectoral: its principles span employment and skills, working conditions, social protection and inclusion, including healthcare, childcare, long-term care, housing and access to essential services.

Placing the Freedom to Stay within this wider framework signals an understanding that enabling businesses and people to remain and thrive in the places they call home cannot be addressed through territorial or cohesion policy alone.
 

From a territorial initiative to a systematic approach
 

This broader framing closely aligns with the need for a systematic approach to the Freedom to Stay: aligning EU policies, funding and monitoring frameworks to enable place-based solutions and address territorial disparities.

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The forthcoming Right to Stay Strategy remains an essential milestone. But making the Freedom to Stay a reality requires action across policy areas. Access to housing, healthcare, care, education, transport, energy, water and digital connectivity shapes whether staying is genuinely a choice and whether territories can retain enterprises, people, skills and economic activity.

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This means integrating Freedom to Stay across the EU’s wider social, economic and territorial framework, including the new Action Plan on the European Pillar of Social Rights, the European Semester, the next Multiannual Financial Framework and the upcoming Europe’s preparedness and resilience agenda.

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High-quality, accessible and affordable Services of General Interest are central to this approach. They are the practical infrastructure that connects social rights with competitiveness, resilience and territorial attractiveness, enabling businesses and people to thrive across all European territories.

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Turning political recognition into delivery

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The SOTEU reference therefore provides an important opening to move from a dedicated Right to Stay initiative towards a more coherent, cross-sectoral European approach.
 

The European Care Deal and housing initiatives announced alongside the Right to Stay illustrate this connection. Care, housing and essential services face common challenges linked to demographic change, workforce shortages, investment needs and unequal territorial access. Addressing them effectively requires stronger coordination between European, national, regional and local levels.
 

The next step would be to translate this broader political recognition into delivery: ensuring that EU policies, legislation and investment reinforce the conditions that make staying possible.