Czech MEPs voiced concerns over the European Commission’s response to threats to democracy, climate policy, and migration after Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen highlighted these in her Wednesday State of the Union speech.
Among these voices was MEP Mikuláš Peksa (Pirates, Greens/EFA), who welcomed von der Leyen’s emphasis on a united Europe but expressed concern about the Commission’s response to the rule of law challenges in member states.
“How can Europe be united if the Commission continues ignoring the threats governments pose to the rule of law? We have elections in Slovakia and Poland and are still dealing with Orbán’s Hungary. We need action here, not fairy tales,” Peksa said.
Criticism also came from politicians with whom von der Leyen shares a political family – The European People’s Party (EPP).
In response to von der Leyen’s announcements that the Commission will organise an international conference on combating human trafficking, MEP Tomáš Zdechovský (KDU-ČSL, EPP) expressed scepticism about the Commission’s approach to combating it.
“I do not know what the international conference on trafficking in human beings/smugglers that the European Commission wants to organise will bring… A strategy should have been prepared long ago on how to fight this mafia effectively,” Czech MEP Zdechovský said in reaction to von der Leyen’s speech.
On the other hand, MEPs admitted that von der Leyen has led the EU through serious crises.
“Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has not had it easy this term. I would single out her handling of the pandemic and her unwavering support for Ukraine, including the withdrawal from Russian gas,” Zdechovský added.
MEP and Vice-President of the European Parliament Dita Charanzová (ANO, Renew) also acknowledged that “this Commission has had the most difficult period in the history of the European Union”.
Charanzová said the speech was “not surprising”, but she sees it as a speech not at the end but at the beginning of her mandate. She told Euractiv.cz that the nature of the SOTEU could indicate that von der Leyen intends to seek another mandate.
(Aneta Zachová, Kateřina Zichová | Euractiv.cz)
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