The EU has copied the principle from the USA: once a year, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gives a keynote address on the State of the Union. This time the focus: the growing international rivalry.
In view of the corona pandemic, the Afghanistan crisis and growing international rivalries, EU Commission President Ursula von Leyen wants to make the European Union much more capable of acting and being more resilient. “We are entering a new era of increased competition,” she said on Wednesday in her year’s State of the Union address. The climate and economic leadership role is of central importance for the global and security policy goals of Europe. But you also need the European Defense Union.
Specifically, von der Leyen announced, among other things, that it would strengthen the production of high-performance chips in Europe in order to eliminate dependence on Asian producers. “While global demand has exploded, Europe’s share of the entire value chain has decreased, from product design to manufacturing capacity,” she said. Therefore, one now has to bring together world-class research and development capacities and coordinate EU investments.
This is not only a question of our competitiveness, but also a question of technological sovereignty. From smartphones and electric scooters to trains or entire intelligent factories – “no digital product without chips,” said von der Leyen.
In order to prevent unfair competition from third countries, an EU-wide ban on products from forced labor is to come. “Human rights cannot be bought – for no money in the world,” said the 62-year-old. Doing global business is good, just as global trade is good and necessary. But this should not happen at the expense of human dignity and freedom. There are around 25 million people affected by forced labor.
Lessons from the corona pandemic
As a lesson from the corona pandemic, 50 billion euros are to be invested in health care throughout the EU over the next six years. No virus should ever turn a local epidemic into a global pandemic, said von der Leyen. “There is no better investment for our money.”
At the same time, the planned EU authority Hera for the prevention of health crises should soon be operational. Dealing with the corona pandemic in the EU is a success. More than 70 percent of adults are fully vaccinated. The priority now must be to promote vaccination around the world. The EU will donate another 200 million doses of vaccine by mid-2022.
Against the background of the events in Afghanistan, von der Leyen pleaded for the expansion of the European Defense Union. In her speech, she promoted the idea of a joint situation and analysis center and proposed a VAT exemption for the purchase of armaments that were developed and manufactured in Europe.
According to von der Leyens, fundamental decisions are to be made in the first half of next year at a “European Defense Summit” organized with French President Emmanuel Macron. One must decide how one can use the possibilities of the EU treaty in the field of defense, said the CDU politician.
In view of the already discussed establishment of a new EU crisis reaction force, von der Leyen warned that a fundamental question should also be addressed. “You can have the most advanced armed forces in the world – but if you’re never ready to use them, what are they good for?” She asked. What the EU has been holding back so far is not just a lack of capacity, but also a lack of political will. “If we develop this political will, we can do a lot at EU level,” she said.
The head of the commission also took a lot of time to focus on young people. She announced that 2022 would be the year of European youth. The aim was to appreciate the young people who would have sacrificed a lot to protect others during the corona pandemic.
In addition, a new exchange program is to be launched for young people who have neither found an apprenticeship nor a job. The program “Alma will give these young people the opportunity to gain temporary work experience in another Member State,” said von der Leyen.
Shared response to von der Leyen speech
The echo from the EU Parliament was divided on von der Leyen’s speech. The chairman of the European People’s Party in the EU Parliament, Manfred Weber, praised the EU Commission for its work against the corona pandemic. No other continent has such high vaccination rates as the EU. “The crisis started in China, in Europe we found the solution,” he said.
The Spanish social democrat Iratxe García Pérez said she was delighted by von der Leyen’s announcement that he would be introducing a law against violence against women. “We have been demanding this law for years,” she said. In terms of foreign policy, the EU must finally speak with one voice, as the developments in Afghanistan have shown.
The Greens parliamentary group leader Philippe Lamberts called for more speed in climate protection. “If we fail, there will be no more economy because the planet will no longer be habitable,” he said.
Harsh criticism came from AfD boss Jörg Meuthen, who sits for the far-right group Identity and Democracy in the EU Parliament. He accused von der Leyen of an “unctuous speech” in which she had announced with false pathos “never before seen spending orgies”, for example for climate protection. The “Green Deal”, the EU growth strategy, is an “unprecedented attack on the economic foundations of our continent,” said Meuthen.
Headwinds also came from the left. Parliamentary group leader Martin Schirdewan called on the EU Commission to finally end patent protection for corona vaccines in the interests of a fairer vaccine distribution in the world. There is also a need for minimum taxation for multinational companies “that has teeth” and a financial transaction tax. The fact that a European military union is being demanded as a lesson from the Afghanistan disaster is wrong. The money would be better off fighting poverty, said Schirdewan.
You can follow Ursula von der Leyen’s entire speech on the State of the European Union again.
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