We cannot let go of the rule of law, ”Von Der Leyen said in his first annual evaluation.

Ursula Von Der Leyen delivered her first major annual speech on Wednesday since she was elected President of the European Commission. At the beginning of the autumn political season, Commission President Barroso introduced the system of extensive speeches in the European Parliament in 2010 and his successors have maintained it ever since. State of the union called, as the great annual speech in the Congress of the president of the United States is called.

Von Der Leyen promised to put forward proposals to strengthen the EU by the committee, most of his initiatives to strengthen common institutions and regulations, rather than upholding a Europe of the nations concept in recent years, which would increase the room for maneuver. of the Member States.

Faster greening

One of his most important announcements, leaked ahead of the speech, was that the Commission wanted the EU to reduce its warming emissions by 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. So far, Member States have agreed 40% of this deadline and have set a goal of reaching zero percent by 2050. To date, 25 percent has been achieved. Hungary is among the cautious member states, the position of the Hungarian government on this matter is that the country can afford more if it receives enough money from the common coffers.

Von Der Leyen recalled in the debate that 37 percent of the gigantic 750 billion euro bailout package that will be launched next year to alleviate the economic problems caused by the epidemic should be spent on green investments by states. members.

As a result of the coronavirus, two new health agencies will be created, and the Commission will support Parliament’s proposals to create a ‘health union’ – this was welcomed in a debate after István Ujhelyi’s (MSZP) speech as parliamentary leader of the Parliament.

5G, 6G, e-personal

In addition to the green transition, Von Der Leyen has identified the development of the digital economy as another very important area where a lot must be spent and why a lot must be done in the next decade to keep the EU behind the US. And China. 20 percent of that $ 750 billion package would have to be spent on digital developments, new regulations are needed, and there will be a European digital cloud so that data from companies in other states cannot take it away. It is planned to have an electronic person from the EU, who will provide access to services in all Member States. There will also be an EU program for artificial intelligence research, and in terms of data protection, it promised that if an EU citizen uses an app, they will need to know exactly what data it will handle and from then on. There is also a need for common rules on the taxation of technology companies. The EU will also invest in the construction of 5G and 6G systems.

China must be treated together

It has dealt a lot with foreign policy, especially compared to the fact that the EU is not very strong on this yet, the powers of the member states go far beyond their common institutions. Von Der Leyen supports the efforts of the largest states to abolish the veto rights of all countries in the Council on certain foreign policy matters and, at least when imposing sanctions and declarations on human rights issues, a qualified majority is sufficient in decisions. Hungary has so far opposed this idea.

On China, he said that while the EU could not stop saying about the human rights situation there, it proposed decisive joint action on it and warned that it would not be good for the Chinese to let themselves be licked by the Chinese with trade offers. In the case of Russia, he supports the EP’s proposal to be similar to the US Magnitsky law in the EU. He condemned the poisoning of Alexei Navalny and stated that the self-determination of the Belarusian people could not be questioned.

In the case of the US, it wants a good partnership, while it has promised money to the Western Balkan countries hoping to join the EU.

The immigration debate may return

The Commission will soon propose new asylum rules; the previous one, drawn up in May 2016 and which included the possibility of mandatory quotas, has officially failed.

The new proposal revealed that it was impossible to prevent people in danger from drowning in the sea, that all Member States maximum migratory pressure. At the same time, he promised rigor: more uniform and faster processing of asylum applications, better organization of the deportation of rejected people, more effective action against human smugglers and better protection of external borders.

Intelmek

He also mentioned that accountability and enforcement of the rule of law should not be a problem in the EU. At the same time, in the case of the new budget, he spoke specifically about the control of corruption and fraud linked to EU money. He also spoke about the importance of freedom of the press, the independence of the judiciary and respect for democratic values ​​in general, but no longer links these ideas to the payment of EU money.

At the same time, he harshly criticized a phenomenon in Poland: he said that there could be no “LGBTQI-free zones” in the EU (such were developed by some Polish municipalities in the name of fighting homosexual propaganda). The rule of law part of the speech was harshly criticized by a member of the Polish ruling party in the debate that followed the evaluator, warning the president not to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries on ideological grounds.

Perhaps more acutely, Von Der Leyen spoke to the British government: He said it was out of the question for the EU to agree to the British now rewriting the grand, hard-won exit deal in three years.