Every year, the State of the Union gives us a picture of Europe: where we stand, the challenges ahead and the priorities that should guide us.

This year, President Ursula von der Leyen spoke of a Europe that needs to become stronger in an increasingly uncertain world. Listening to her speech, however, I found myself thinking about a much more ordinary measure of Europe's strength: the kitchen table.

It is around that table that many of the pressures facing people eventually meet. The cost of the weekly shop, the electricity bill, the rent or home loan, and the question of whether there is enough left at the end of the month.

There was much in her speech that I agreed with.

Europe does need to become stronger and more independent. We need affordable energy and good jobs. We need to protect our industries, strengthen our security and reduce dependencies that leave us vulnerable in an increasingly uncertain world.

The President also spoke about the pressures facing European families. She recognised the cost of living and the housing crisis. She spoke about care, quality jobs and the right of people to remain in the communities they call home.

These are important commitments made in her speech. However, I do question what changes at that kitchen table when the speech ends and the applause dies out. This, I believe, is the real test facing European politics.

We have become very good at explaining Europe through the language of strategy. We speak about competitiveness, resilience, investment, security and autonomy. All of these things matter. But people experience the economy differently.

They experience it in the supermarket aisle when the same basket of groceries costs more than it used to. They experience it when an electricity bill arrives or when a young couple with two salaries still cannot see how they will afford their first home.

Europe's next challenge is not simply to become stronger but to make that strength felt. A stronger economy cannot only mean better growth figures. It must mean work that pays enough for people to live well, raise a family and have some security at the end of the month. Housing cannot only be recognised as a right in a European speech. It must become a realistic possibility for the young person who wants to leave their parents' home and begin building a life of their own.

The President was right to address short-term rentals and housing speculation. The measure of success, however, cannot simply be whether Europe manages to enact another law. It must be whether more affordable homes actually become available.

The same applies to the cost of living. Europe should be willing to look closely at the markets for the things people cannot simply choose to stop buying: food, energy and other essentials. Where competition is weak or unfair practices inflate prices, we should be prepared to act.

This way of thinking should also change how we understand prosperity. Economic growth, competitiveness and investment matter, but an economy can grow while people feel poorer.

A country can become wealthier while a young person feels they have less chance of owning a home than their parents did. Productivity can rise as workers feel they have less time for their families. National figures can improve while people feel increasingly insecure about what happens if they become ill, need care or face an unexpected expense.

I have long argued that we need to measure more than economic output. Health, wellbeing, housing, financial security and the ability to participate in family and community life tell us something that GDP alone never can: whether progress is actually reaching people. The same principle applies to climate change.

During my intervention following the President's speech, I spoke about the people who lived through another difficult summer: farmers watching crops struggle, workers spending hours in extreme heat and families thinking about something as basic as access to clean and affordable water.

The connection between Europe's ambitions and people's everyday lives still needs to become much clearer. People look at the Union as a distant bureaucracy machine, insensitive to daily realities.

European politics can become meaningful when big decisions become small, tangible changes in people's lives. The European project will ultimately earn people's confidence much closer to home, around the kitchen table.

Thomas Bajada is a Labour MEP