Economy: Hungary was not mentioned, but Ursula von der Leyen also sent a message to Orbán

It was no easy task for Ursula von der Leyen, who delivered her annual keynote address for the first time since she was elected President of the European Commission. Not only did she have to tell MEPs what solutions she was planning to the global crisis brought on by the coronavirus epidemic, but she could not ignore the problems that had plagued the European Union for years.

Perhaps this was the reason why von der Leyen’s speech became the longest EU evaluator of the year: it lasted 79 minutes. According to the 8179-word text outlined, the top priorities for the next period will be health harmonization, economic recovery, climate crisis, digitization and maintaining competitiveness. However, a few words came to Russia, to human rights and, perhaps most importantly, to Hungary, to the rule of law.

The degree of prevalence of the coronavirus emergency in all the Member States of the European Union has already been clear from the first minutes of the speech. Von der Leyen did not forget to thank those who fight on the front lines against the epidemic.

“His story says a lot about the situation in the world and in the European Union. They have not only shown strength, but they have also conveyed sadness and how fragile life is, ”said the president, who said that now is the time for Europe to take the initiative.

A stronger health union

According to the President of the Commission, the main lesson of the coronavirus epidemic is the need to increase the budget for health and increase cooperation between Member States at European level. He therefore proposes that the European Medicines Agency and the Office of Epidemiology be strengthened and that a new European agency for biological and medical research be created. (Such an institution has been operating in the United States for a long time.)

He also announced that a world health summit will be held in Italy next year. Von der Leyen also pointed to the need to store medicines and pharmaceuticals in the EU, thus improving the supply chain and giving the European Union more power in health matters.

This plan is very ambitious simply because, at the EU summit in July, Member States said not to receive € 8 billion from the EU recovery fund for health.

Economic recovery

After medical care, Von der Leyen switched to economic lessons and immediately pointed out that, in the current situation, there is no time to withdraw budget funds. The former German Labor Minister also advocated for a European minimum wage, for which the Commission has drawn up a legislative proposal. He also made it clear, of course, that you don’t need to think in uniform amounts. “We want a fair minimum wage system that member states must develop through collective bargaining and legislation,” he said.

The politician also recognized the need to strike a delicate balance between fiscal stability and economic support, which requires a stronger monetary union. He stressed that the functioning of the internal market was fundamental and that it was necessary to restore the four freedoms: the free movement of goods, services, capital and people. With this, Von der Leyen apparently also referred to the restrictions and border closures imposed because of the coronavirus. In early September, just days after the hastily adopted Hungarian border closure, the European Commission adopted a proposal that similar measures could be taken only after consultation, leaving enough time for stakeholders.

Fighting the climate crisis

One of the most important – and longest – parts of the speech was on environmental measures, which is no coincidence that, under the European Green Deal, the EU has set itself the goal of making Europe the first climate-neutral continent in the world. world by 2050. However, as this is not moving fast enough, the European Commission proposes that

Change the 2030 CO2 reduction target from 40 percent to 55 percent.

Von der Leyen also revealed some details on how they plan to achieve this. 30 percent of the $ 750 billion coronavirus recovery fund would be funded through the issuance of green bonds, a program to launch 1 million new charging stations for electric cars, and the creation of European hydrogen valleys. The committee chair would also finance building renovations from the restoration fund, as currently 40 percent of emissions are caused by outdated buildings. For this, a new “European Bauhaus” will also be created, where architects, artists, students, engineers and designers will work together.

The European Union must also be at the forefront of digitization and innovation, one element of which could be the creation of a new European cloud for the exchange of industrial data. An important change is that the European Commission is proposing the creation of a secure European digital identity, which will allow us to manage affairs by controlling the use of our data. The Commission plans to bring broadband internet to the smallest towns and invest € 8 billion in supercomputers.

Why dilute EU decisions?

The president will also send a message to member states that are hampering common EU foreign policy decisions, especially in the field of human rights.

“What is stopping us? Why are even the simplest EU statements delayed, diluted or taken hostage for other purposes? “He asked. In several cases, the politician was able to refer to the Hungarian government, which had previously blocked a decision on the Turkish intervention in Syria last fall, faced a unified position on Israel, but even a draft agreement between the EU. and Switzerland because it was referring to migration.

Von der Leyen also spoke about the situation in Belarus, calling the brutal crackdown on protesters shameful, but also criticized those who advocate a closer link with Russia. “The poisoning of Alexei Navalny was not a unique example, we have seen the same pattern in Georgia, Ukraine, Syria, Salisbury and the electoral interventions. This model has not changed anything, and no gas pipeline will change that, ”he said.

The critical tone towards Turkey has not changed either, Von der Leyen said that the distance between the EU and Ankara is widening. The fact that the Union’s financial aid is provided to millions of refugees does not prove that they “intimidate and oppress their neighbors,” he said in an agreement reached in early 2016 to halt migratory flows on the Balkan route. Migrants from Turkey to Europe are allowed.

The European Commission continues to view the United States as an ally, even if they don’t agree on everything. The committee chairman has now spoken of wanting a new transatlantic agenda with Washington on trade and tax issues, rather than the largely sunk free trade agreement plan. The big question, of course, is whether Donald Trump, who opted for war over free trade, will remain in the White House.

Von der Leyen also sent a message to the British: reiterating his criticism last week, he said that it was not possible to unilaterally change the exit agreement reached earlier. The British prime minister introduced the so-called Internal Market Act early last week, some of which go against the convention passed last year.

He also hinted that the committee will present its new immigration package next week, which will be based on a humane procedure and will save lives. These are, of course, the many evaluative speeches when this phrase is uttered: it is about how Brussels can go beyond a quota system that can hardly be considered too successful.

Rule of law and gay rights

At the end of his speech, Von der Leyen did not mention any member states, but emphasized that they will crack down on breaches of the rule of law. In the Commission’s reading, this is mainly motivated by the prevention of abuses around the spending of significantly increasing subsidies, the politician also emphasized, among other things: “We want to ensure that budget resources are protected from fraud and corruption, violations cannot be tolerated, “he said. Hungary was not mentioned, but OLAF’s annual report published last week reaffirmed that we have by far the highest proportion of EU grants for which the EU Anti-Fraud Office proposes to withdraw money. By comparison, the Hungarian government also stiffly refuses to allow the country to join the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, which investigates such fraud, without which the rule of law criteria will not be met. However, Von der Leyen did not only refer to money: he specifically emphasized the protection of freedom of the press and the independence of the judiciary, and settlement bonds.

He promised that the EU will continue to crack down on racism and hate speech, for which the first coordinator of the Commission against racism will soon be appointed.

At the end of the speech, there was also an obvious message for Poland. “Gay-free zones are inhumane zones and have no place in the European Union,” he said, referring to the committee’s refusal this summer to pay subsidies to six Polish municipalities that had declared themselves gay-free.