Von der Leyen U-turns, will attend landmark Carney speech – POLITICO

STRASBOURG — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will attend Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Thursday, reversing an earlier decision to skip the speech.

The U-turn comes after Commission chief spokesperson Paula Pinho told POLITICO on Monday morning that von der Leyen would miss the address because of “prior commitments” in Brussels that day, including the presentation of a new child online safety law.

“The President will attend PM Carney speech at the EP in Strasbourg on Thursday. In view of that, we managed to move the press conference by President von der Leyen and [Executive Vice President] Virkkunen to Strasbourg, also on Thursday morning,” Pinho said in a text message on Monday evening.