Ursula von der Leyen did not suppress a small smile of satisfaction at the beginning of her speech on the state of the Union before the plenary session of the European Parliament when remembering how she was received four years ago. "I know that some had doubts, when I appeared before you in 2019 with my program for a green, digital and geopolitical Europe, but that was before a pandemic and a brutal war on European soil turned the world upside down," he recalled in Strasbourg. the president of the European Commission, whose executive capacity has been key to defining the EU's response to these challenges. "But look at Europe today," Von der Leyen launched in her last State of the Union speech of the legislature.
"We have seen the birth of a geopolitical Union by supporting Ukraine, opposing Russian aggression, responding to a more assertive China and investing in our alliances," while an "ambitious" European Green Deal is now "at the center of our economy", claimed German politics, which has asked for the support of the European Parliament to "complete the work" started to respond to these challenges during the legislature that it has defined as "transformative" for the Union. The support of his own political family, the European People's Party (EPP), will be crucial to consolidate his legacy and maintain the direction on which the European economy has embarked. Von der Leyen has promised "dialogue" with the rural world and more support for the industry to face the challenges linked to the green transition.
"We need more dialogue and less polarization. That is why we want to launch a strategic dialogue on the future of agriculture in the EU. I am convinced that agriculture and the protection of the natural world can go hand in hand. We need both," she said Von der Leyen, who has expressed her "appreciation" to European farmers "for providing us with food day after day." In the current climate of tensions with the rural world over proposals on the restoration of natural spaces, animal welfare or the protection of the wolf, it was an expected wink. With less than 300 days until the elections to the European Parliament, not only the extreme right but the EPP itself denies the scope of the green agenda launched at the beginning of the legislature, with support then from all the major European political groups. Even the president of the European Chamber, Roberta Metsola, has this week blamed the European green agenda for the advance of populism, and the EPP has launched a campaign against the reduction in the number of cars in city centers.
Concern about the future, in an economic context still dominated by high inflation, is no less in certain European industries and Von der Leyen took advantage of her speech to announce the opening of an investigation into unfair competition against China, for its public aid to the electric car sector. "Global markets are flooded with cheaper Chinese electric cars and their price is kept artificially low thanks to enormous state subsidies," stressed the head of the community executive. "Europe is open to competition but not in a race to the bottom."
Von der Leyen has also announced new support measures for the wind industry by accelerating "permitting", improving auction systems and access to finance. As happens at the end of each legislature, the President of the Commission has proclaimed that "the time has come" to reduce the bureaucracy that European companies face to carry out their activity, a message that she has completed by drawing on another community classic, the commissioning of a report on how to improve the competitiveness of the EU, yes, from a prestigious figure such as the former president of the European Central Bank, Mario Dragui.
Von der Leyen has asked for the support of the European Parliament to close the European migration pact in the remainder of the legislature, a responsibility that rests partly in the hands of the Spanish presidency of the Council, and demonstrate that "immigration can be managed effectively and with compassion." The president has mentioned in passing the migration management agreement in exchange for economic aid recently signed with Tunisia, under the leadership of the Prime Minister of Italy, the far-right Giorgia Meloni, criticized by progressive groups, but she has defended "working on similar agreements." with other countries".
The consequences of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine has occupied a significant part of Von der Leyen's speech. If last year her special guest at the event was Olena Zelenska, the country's first lady, today she was accompanied by the Colombian writer Héctor Abad, survivor of the Russian attack that cost the life of the Ukrainian author Victoria Amelina. The chamber responded with a standing ovation when telling his story, when Abad showed a photo of the writer. "We will keep his memory and that of all the victims alive. Hang in there, Ukraine!" he added, in Spanish, using the slogan of the campaign launched to raise public opinion in Latin America about Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
"Our support for Ukraine will remain," said Von der Leyen, who has however tiptoed over the decisions taken in support of Kyiv, such as the enormous economic and military aid mobilized, or the sanctions against Russia (she has only mentioned them once, to highlight that they were approved unanimously, but this route is exhausted). Instead, he has defended with conviction that the country's future lies in the European Union, like that of the Western Balkans and Moldova, and has urged the European Parliament and the member states to define how they want to carry out the enlargement of the EU, a debate that European leaders will address at the Grenada summit.
But "we should not wait" to make hypothetical changes in the European treaties to reform the club before admitting new members, because the Union can be "ready" more quickly, he said, contrary to what the president proposes, for example. Frenchman, Emmanuel Macron, in favor of an in-depth reform of the institutional architecture of the EU before becoming a union of more than 30 partners. "Expansion can be a catalyst for progress," he assured those who question the need to expand the club to respond to geopolitical challenges. For Von der Leyen, Europe must "respond to the call of history", as the founders of the Union did after the Second World War, which now means opening its doors to new countries.
In his reply to the president's speech, the leader of the EPP in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber, emphasized that Europe "must not leave anyone behind in these changes" and "listen to people's concerns", while claiming the role of the EPP in the achievements of the legislature, from the joint purchase of vaccines to the signing of the UK withdrawal agreement, global leadership in the fight against climate change, sanctions against Russia or support to Ukraine. These decisions are the fruit of the "collaboration" of the centrist groups, he has said, words that have had a harsh reply from the leader of the European socialist group, Iratxe García. "You cannot refer to the 'Von der Leyen majority' and then add your votes to the extreme right to form governments and majorities in this Parliament. That cannot be done," he said in reference to his flirtations with the extreme right and Eurosceptic forces in order to form a hypothetical alternative majority in the next legislature. The EPP must not let "Robert Schuman's party deviate from its values nor from the founding values of the European Union" has asked the leader of the Greens, Philippe Lamberts.
The European bubble was waiting expectantly for Von der Leyen's speech, for the clues she could give about her plans when the legislature ends, since the former German Minister of Defense did not give any assurances about her future, whether she aspires to a second term or whether, now that NATO has postponed the replacement of its secretary general until July, aspires to be the first woman to lead the military organization. Ambiguity has been the defining note in this regard but his firm defense of future European enlargement, and the emphasis on "finishing the job" - that is, consolidating his legacy - has been interpreted by some observers as indications of his desire to continue at the head of the European Commission, an aspiration for which he will first need the support of his own political family.
