Short of spelling it out in technicolour behind her podium, Ursula von der Leyen could hardly have been clearer about her intention to seek a second term as European Commission president as she delivered her last annual speech in Strasbourg.
The speech – delivered before a stern audience of several hundred European Parliament lawmakers – was also a lesson in how to make an ambitious political spiel without for a moment looking pretentious or out of place.
It was probably the most telling moment of the whole address when von der Leyen looked up from her script, addressing “Honourable Member States” rather than the “Honourable Members (MEPs)” in front of her.
A slip of the tongue, followed by what some might have interpreted as a guilty smile, underlined what this speech was effectively about: a veiled pitch for a second term, which member states rather than EU lawmakers will decide on.
The first stanzas of her last SOTEU before next year’s European elections in June were pure electioneering: a tribute to the Commission’s purported policy successes in responding to the COVID pandemic, the fallout of Russia’s war on Ukraine, and driving the European Green Deal.
But first and foremost, it took the US style of touting domestic successes and challenges over external affairs triumphs. Just like across the pond, European elections are rarely won based on foreign policy achievements.
The trickiest and most technical policies, such as the prospect of EU enlargement and reforms to the EU treaties, were dealt with at the end, almost as an afterthought. After all, very few outside the EU bubble will have their vote dictated primarily by EU institutional questions.
The late mention of Russia’s war in Ukraine, compared to the total dominance of the war in last year’s edition, may not be a complete surprise. Especially when thinking about the creeping ‘Ukraine fatigue’ that is increasingly becoming visible here and there across the bloc.
But migration is arguably the number one issue for Europeans right now, and one where politicians from the political mainstream are anxious to fend off nationalist and far-right parties and keep the issue on the mainstream policy lane.
EPP leader Manfred Weber wants his centre-right party, of which von der Leyen is a member, to prove to voters that they are listening and delivering results on migration control.
The EU’s new pact with Tunisia, brokered by von der Leyen with Tunisia’s authoritarian president Kais Saied in July, has been nothing if not a pragmatic response to voters’ concerns ahead of next June.
Yet the Commission president did not mention this – or her plans to agree similar deals with other North African states in the coming months – until the later stages of her speech.
With the speech out of the way and the bell ringing for the last round, the question is, what happens next?
In practice, the EPP’s statute requires it to hold a primary to select a Spitzenkandidat ahead of next June. And von der Leyen, therefore, needs to formally decide whether she wants a second term in the coming weeks.
Weber, meanwhile, who did not look as though he had truly enjoyed von der Leyen’s speech – or, for that matter, his own intervention praising the ‘von der Leyen majority’ that he had to deliver – will also have to decide whether he wants to run.
By far, the most likely outcome is that von der Leyen runs unopposed for the EPP nomination, with the other parties going through similar motions of selecting (several) lead candidates.
The big question looming over EU leaders before and after the summer break was whether von der Leyen actually wanted a second term.
Now, it appears, we have a clear answer.
The Roundup
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivered her last annual State of the European Union address before next June’s European elections. Click here for a blow-by-blow rendition/analysis of her speech.
Von der Leyen defended her track record as European Commission chief on Wednesday with a State of the Union speech that pitched her as a champion of European citizens on the economy, climate change, and migration.
The European Green Deal is entering a new phase focusing on industrial policy, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in her annual State of the Union speech, hinting at what a potential second mandate could look like.
Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday made the case for enlargement as a ‘catalyst for progress’ of the bloc but failed to put forward concrete targets.
Von der Leyen also made a push for a fully-fledged European defence industry strategy but fell short of sending any clear signal to arms makers across the bloc.
Von der Leyen announced countermeasures against the growing number of Chinese electric cars distorting the EU single market through price-dumping practices in her State of the Union address on Wednesday, but her approach is under fire from German lawmakers and industry.
The European Parliament approved on Tuesday an EU fund to incentivise joint procurement of arms for Ukraine, closing a year of intense negotiations and the Commission’s first-ever push to help member states procure weapons.
Cannabis, the most consumed illicit drug in the EU, is sparking a heated debate across Europe. Join us as we dive into the recent groundbreaking German proposal to regulate recreational cannabis use.
EU frontline countries bordering Ukraine have threatened drastic measures in the event that the European Commission does not renew its temporary import ban on Ukrainian agricultural goods, including “indefinite” strikes and port blockades as the renewal deadline looms.
As new data shows EU servers are being targeted by criminals to host this imagery, EU legislators must pass vital new legislation to get a grip on the worsening situation and prevent the abuse of EU servers by criminals profiting off child sexual abuse imagery, writes Susie Hargreaves.
With the aim to bring high connectivity for all Europeans by 2030, the Parliament agreed on an ambitious text pushing towards EU harmonised rules for telecoms, abolition of extra fees for intra-EU calls and adoption of the principle of administrative tacit approval.
Look out for…
- Serbia and Kosovo leaders meet in Brussels under EU-mediated dialogue.
- MEPs vote on regulation of prostitution in the EU Thursday.
- Commission President Ursula von der Leyen meets with Danish industry leaders in Copenhagen on Thursday.
- MEPs debate on violence and discrimination in the world of sports after the FIFA Women’s World Cup and improving firefighters’ working conditions Thursday.
Views are the author’s
[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic/Alice Taylor]
Source: euractiv.com
