“Europe is in combat.” He has not been able to start more forcefully the discourse of the State of the European Union (EU) of the president of the Commission ,. This morning, at the headquarters of the Europarliament in Strasbourg (France), the German has tried to draw an in danger virtually existential, threatened and in need of “urgent” action and “unity” to get ahead and take their place in the world. I said, above all, on the defensive level, but also in the commercial or in the business. “We are a peace project, but there is no room for nostalgia,” he warned those who still do not fit the severity of the stage, although he has received the reproach of a certain part of the left by his bellicism.
Von der Leyen has defended that he wants a “complex and in peace, free and independent Europe, with values and based on democracy”, but also “with the ability to determine our destiny for ourselves”, something that now suffers, shaken, shaken by the great world events, starting to which, of course, he has taken care to quote. “They don’t get confused. It is a fight for our future,” he warned.
In the first speech of this nature since her re -election, last winter, the German has recognized that she has “many laps” to that part of her speech, to that alert call, with terms in which Europeans “are not accustomed to speaking”, but has defended them because it is necessary before the “implacable world today.” “You cannot make up the difficulties,” summarizes, the cost of life to world conflicts. “We cannot simply wait for the storm.
The union has to fight “ambivalent or openly hostile powers.” And from there “a new Europe” will come out. “It must be the moment of independence, to take care of our defense and security,” he detailed, citing the energy or the necessary features of that club. We must define society “in which we want to live” and ensure that it is “democratic” and “open to the world”, to “new and ancient allies.” The key is “to have the freedom and power to determine our own destiny. We know that we can do it, we have demonstrated what is possible when we have the same ambition, unity and sense of urgency,” reminds those who repeat that you cannot, which is very complicated.
“We cannot simply wait for the storm to pass (…) Does Europe have a stomach for this fight? Does it make sense of urgency, political will and political skill to reach agreements?”
The “Central Question” is: “Does Europe have a stomach for this fight? Does it make sense of urgency, political will and political skill to reach agreements?” “That our divisions paralyze us,” he prays, because “the choice is clear.” To this is answered with states to one, strong European institutions, proceedings arranged and expansion, making the group bigger, “with a merit -based process.” “I am prepared,” he offers.
Von der Leyen has put as an example two of the issues in which we must not doubt, but to go which musketeers: Ukraine and Gaza. On both conflicts he has made significant ads that you can read in the following information.
The ads
Throughout his speech, von der Leyen has also broken down the commitments for the new year of his commission, a terrifying frame. Although competitiveness and industry have copied a good part of their folios, it has also had a social dye that contrasts even with the policies of its party, the European popular, to show – less of word – some extra sensitivity.
For example, as EFE quotes, he has defended that he must face as a “social crisis” and has asked for a “European effort” to face it and a “radical transformation” of the way it is managed. “Language the social fabric of Europe, weakens our cohesion and also threatens our competitiveness,” he said. Promised that before the end of the year the First European plan for affordable home And he announced that he will call for the first time An EU Summit dedicated to matter “To ensure that it is at the top of our agenda.” While fruiting that debate, bets on the need for Review community standards on public aid In this area (an initiative already underway) and stressed that it is necessary “Facilitate new housing construction and student residences”.
The CE will also propose a “legal initiative” about the or short stay To “address pending issues”, although it did not provide any details about one of the key issues to understand the rise in rental prices, in general. “It will be a European effort, anchored in local realities,” emphasized the head of the Community Executive on a policy whose competence resides, mainly, in the Member States or even in their regions and municipalities. He claimed that “the whole society, all legislators and all the parties involved meet” to find solutions to the problem of housing prices. “(The problem of) housing goes over dignity, about justice and about the future of Europe,” he said.
“The social crisis of housing tears the social fabric of Europe, weakens our cohesion and also threatens our competitiveness”
Also in social matters, the head of the community government has raised a European strategy against poverty to help eradicate this problem by 2050. The reports confirm that it is one of the main problems in the twenty -seven ,. There are no dates or details, yes, but the promise that it will be accompanied by a “strong” warranty for childhood to “shield” in particular to.
In 2024, 21 % of the EU population (93 million people) was at risk of poverty and social exclusion, although this rate – which in Spain is one of the highest in the block with 25.8 % – varies greatly between states, from 30.3 % in Bulgaria to 16.7 % in Ireland, according to data from.
“When we talk about competitiveness we talk about jobs, people and their living conditions. So the result is that workers must have power if we want to have a competitive economy,” said Von der Leyen in a more focused on the commercial or industrial aspects of the European economy than socially. In this regard, he announced that the European Commission will propose A “Quality Jobs Law” to “ensure that in modern employment it follows the rhythm to the modern economy.” “We know how hard the times have been for many families, how costs have shot themselves, how people are making sacrifices to reach the end of the month. This is a basic social justice,” he said.
In the purely economic, the president announced A “battery reinforcement” package for which the Union will contribute 1,800 million euros to capital to boost the production of these devices. “They are a key element for other clean technologies, especially electric vehicles, so this is directed to the heart of our independence,” he said. He cited it as a central element in that independence that defends so much in all planes, at a time when “the geopolitical and economic winds of a strong blow.” They are also in that “digital and clean technologies” package.
“We have to urgently boost demand to (have) European industrial leadership in clean technologies,” said the German, who announced that the EU will introduce European manufacturing criteria (made in Europe) in their public tenders.
The next 2027-2034 budget will also have A new competitiveness fund, which Brussels proposes to provide 410,000 million eurosand announced that the European Commission will be associated with private investors in a new “European Extension Fund for billions of euros” to invest in companies “young people and are growing fast in areas of critical technologies.” “We want the best of Europe to choose Europe,” said the president of the European Commission, who recalled that the institution plans to simplify community regulation in order to save at 8,000 million euros a year the bureaucratic costs for companies with the aim of making them more competitive.
In this context, the German also defended that the European single market, the “greatest asset” of the block, remains “unfinished”, especially in the sectors of finance, energy and telecommunications, with internal barriers that are “equivalent to a 45 % tariff in goods and 110 % in services, according to the Intermational Monetary Fund. Therefore, he announced that the European Commission will present A road map until 2028 to complete this projectwill launch a proposal to launch the so -called “regime 28” – a window through which companies can operate throughout the EU- and will boost a “fifth freedom” in the block related to “knowledge and innovation.”
He also had a nod to mention the “Solid safeguards”, Given the fears and protests of farmers for the potential effects of the products of the Latin American block. “Our farmers need fair competition and equal opportunities. This is essential. That is why we have safeguard solids in our commercial agreement with Mercosur, backed by financing if compensation is needed,” he said in the speech.
The pact in question contains a safeguard clause that provides that any of the parties – only country can activate it – can request the suspension of the agreement in case of breach of its provisions or a disturbance in the market. To reinforce this clause and satisfy the reluctance of France mainly, which fears because its agricultural sector is affected by imports from Mercosur, the EC has proposed a specific legal act on how it would apply it that it does not reopen, in any case, the text agreed with the South American block.
The EU also has an agricultural emergency reserve, which in the common agricultural policy of the 2028-2034 period has been proposed that it reaches 6,300 million euros, the EC recalls.
