Commission makes opening move on child safety with proposed EU KIDS Act

The European Commission made its opening move on child safety in Strasbourg on 17 September 2026, as Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen outlined the direction for the EU KIDS Act. Speaking at the European Parliament's monthly plenary session, Commission leadership backed the initiative with Eurobarometer survey results from July showing that 92 percent of Europeans favour strengthening protective measures for children. Virkkunen noted that the initiative follows direct feedback from parents, educators, national leaders, and young people concerned about digital risks and wellbeing.

For families across the 27 member states, the initiative represents an effort to create uniform standards in an area where rules currently differ from one country to another. When 92 percent of respondents in an official EU survey align on a single topic, European policymakers treat it as an imperative rather than a debate. The proposed legislation aims to address safety concerns raised by parents and schools, transferring part of the burden of digital protection from individual households to systemic safeguards enforced across the European single market.

Unveiling the initiative in Strasbourg with both the Commission President and an Executive Vice-President was a tactical institutional choice. Executive Vice-Presidents occupy the top tier of the College of Commissioners—the 27 political appointees who steer the EU executive—and their joint appearance alongside high survey figures is a classic Berlaymont maneuver. By anchoring the proposal in a 92 percent public mandate before the text enters negotiations, the Commission sets a high political bar for both national governments in the Council and lawmakers in the Parliament who might later seek to dilute or delay the measures.

With the political framework presented, the Commission's proposal moves into the EU's core legislative machinery. The draft text must be scrutinized and amended independently by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, which represents member state governments. Once both sides adopt their respective positions under the ordinary legislative procedure, negotiators from all three institutions will meet in informal compromise talks known as trilogues to hammer out the final binding text.