My weekly update | 14–20 September 2026
It has been a packed week, beginning in Strasbourg for meetings, debates and important votes in the European Parliament before returning home to Dublin for the Eurofi Financial Forum and Fine Gael Small Business Conference.
From Europe’s plans for the year ahead to protecting children online, supporting small businesses and building a stronger culture of investment, there was plenty happening. Here is a closer look at what I was working on for you this week.
A major week in Strasbourg
Plenary weeks in Strasbourg are when all 720 MEPs come together to debate and vote on European legislation.
This week, we voted on a number of major issues, including a significant reform of Europe’s customs system and new rules for the billions of packages entering the EU through online shopping each year.
Modernising our outdated customs system is necessary, but consumers cannot be expected to pay charge after charge simply to receive a package from outside the EU. With a new handling fee now being negotiated, I will continue insisting that the temporary €3 customs charge must go.
Alongside the votes, I had a full programme of meetings focused on the issues affecting people at home, from the cost of living and support for small businesses to online safety and Europe’s economic future.
My thoughts on the State of the Union
The centrepiece of the week was Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the Union address. This is the European Commission President’s annual speech setting out Europe’s direction and priorities for the year ahead.
There were important commitments on Europe’s security, competitiveness and migration. Canada also featured prominently, with Prime Minister Mark Carney visiting the Parliament and President von der Leyen proposing that Canada become the EU’s first associate member.
At a time of growing global uncertainty, Europe must deepen its relationships with trusted, like-minded partners. Closer cooperation with Canada on trade, defence, energy, technology and critical minerals would be an important step.
Ireland should now play its part by ratifying CETA, the EU-Canada trade agreement. We cannot stand still while others reshape the global economy around us.
However, the announcement that stood out most for me was the new EU Kids Act.
For years, parents have been expected to take on some of the world’s most powerful technology companies by themselves. Social media platforms have been allowed to test addictive features on children, push harmful content into their feeds and make it far too easy for strangers to contact them.
The new proposals would introduce stronger protections depending on a child’s age. They include age verification, safer accounts, greater parental controls, restrictions on addictive features such as infinite scrolling and tighter limits on who can contact young users.
I welcome this approach. A blanket ban alone was never going to work. Children would find ways around it, while parents would once again be left carrying all the responsibility.
The real answer is safety by design. Platforms must be made safer from the beginning, with private accounts by default, addictive features switched off and proper consequences when companies fail to protect children.
The proposals will now come before the European Parliament. I will work to make sure the final rules are strong, practical and place responsibility where it belongs: on the companies designing these platforms.
Listening to Ireland’s small businesses
Small businesses are the backbone of communities across Ireland, but too many are being held back by rising costs, limited access to finance and unnecessary bureaucracy. At Fine Gael’s Small Business and Enterprise Conference, I joined Tánaiste Simon Harris, Eurogroup President Kyriakos Pierrakakis and business owners from across the country to discuss how Ireland and Europe can make it easier to grow a business, create jobs and invest for the future.
Hearing directly from business owners is essential. Good policy cannot be made without listening to the people expected to follow it. Their experiences help me understand what is working, what is causing difficulty and what needs to change at European level.
Europe’s finance sector comes to Dublin
After Strasbourg, I travelled home for the Eurofi Financial Forum, which brought more than 900 policymakers, regulators and financial sector representatives to Dublin during Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the EU.
Eurofi is one of Europe’s most important financial policy gatherings. It provides an opportunity to discuss the major economic questions facing Europe, including investment, banking, digital finance, pensions and how we fund the businesses and infrastructure needed for future growth.
My priority is making sure these conversations deliver something meaningful for ordinary people.
We need to make it easier for Irish people and families to invest in their futures, give growing businesses better access to finance and ensure that savings can support productive investment here in Europe.
Irish people should have the same opportunities to build financial security as citizens elsewhere in Europe. That means removing unnecessary barriers, providing simple investment options and finally addressing unfair rules such as deemed disposal.
Hosting Eurofi in Dublin also demonstrated the importance of Ireland’s EU Presidency. For six months, we have an opportunity to bring European decision-makers to Ireland and help shape the policies that will influence our economy for years to come.
News Coverage
Protecting children online
The EU Kids Act was a major focus of my media work this week.
I spoke to RTÉ Drivetime about why social media is not currently safe for children and why platforms must take responsibility for the products they design.
Listen back to my interview on RTÉ Drivetime
I also spoke to the Irish Independent about why a gradual system of stronger protections is more realistic and effective than a blanket ban that children could easily bypass.
Read my comments in the Irish Independent
In my opinion piece for the Irish Sun, I set out why child safety must be built into social media platforms from the very beginning. Parents can decide what is right for their children, but they should not be left alone to fight billion-euro technology companies and algorithms deliberately designed to keep young people scrolling.
Small businesses cannot be forgotten
I also continued raising the serious problems facing small Irish businesses under Europe’s new packaging rules.
Businesses selling even a small number of products into another EU country can face separate registrations, additional fees and confusing requirements. For some, it has become easier to sell outside the European Union than within our own Single Market.That makes no sense.
I have written to the European Commission seeking simpler rules, protection for micro-businesses and one EU-wide registration system. This issue is not going away, and neither am I. Small businesses cannot be priced out of the Single Market by rules designed without them in mind.
Read my comments in the Business Post
Keeping in touch
Thank you for taking the time to catch up on my week. I hope these updates give you a useful look at what is happening in Europe and what I am doing as your MEP.
If there is an issue you would like to raise or something my office can help with, please get in touch or leave a comment below. Hearing directly from you helps shape the work I do.
Regina
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