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Mr. von der Leyen began his speech with the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges it posed.
“We have turned our fears and divisions between member states into trust in our Union, showing that it is possible for us to trust each other and trust the European institutions,” he said.
The President of the EC proposed the creation of a “stronger European Union”: the strengthening of the European Medicines Agency, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control and the creation of a European institution for research and biomedical development.
Mr von der Leyen said that a major world health summit was planned for next year in Italy: “Because it was a global crisis, global lessons need to be learned.”
He stressed the need for strategic warehousing “to respond to supply chain dependencies, especially for pharmaceuticals.”
According to von der Leyen, after the coronavirus crisis, “it has become clearer than ever that we have to discuss the issue of health competencies.” It is a response to calls for the EU to gain more power in the health sector. So far this is largely a matter for the Member States.
The importance of the minimum wage
Mr von der Leyen emphasized the EC’s plans to establish a “minimum wage structure” in Europe.
“Everyone should be paid at least the minimum wage. It is time to get paid,” he said in his annual address.
According to V. von der Leyen, the EU should restore “total free movement”. “We will propose a new strategy for the future of the Schengen area,” he added.
Mr von der Leyen announced that the EC proposed to increase its emission reduction targets for 2030 to “at least 55%”. He added that he understands that this proposal is “too big for some members and insufficient for some.”
The EC president said he wanted 37 percent. from 750 billion. the economic recovery package would be assigned to the “Green Deal”.
In his annual address, Mr der Leyen welcomed the Capital Markets Union, an EU initiative aimed at further strengthening and integrating the capital markets of the EU Member States.
Focus on Belarus
The EC president praised the bravery of the protesters in Belarus, calling the government’s response “shameful” and reiterating that the EU did not consider the August 9 elections to be free or fair.
“I want to say loud and clear: the European Union is on the side of the people of Belarus,” he said.
Der der Leyen said that China is a partner in the fight against climate change, but that it must abide by the commitments of the Paris Treaty, emphasizing unbalanced trade.
“We may not always agree with the decisions of the White House, but we will always support the transatlantic alliance,” he said.
He stressed that the Brexit Treaty was a ratified agreement based on international law. This is a warning to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose government has proposed a new bill to repeal parts of last year’s Brexit deal with the EU.
“The EU and the UK have agreed on the best and best way to bring peace to the island of Ireland. We will never change our minds on this,” he said.
Reuters / Photo by Scanpix / Boris Johnson
Mr von der Leyen announced that the EC would present the first annual review of the rule of law in all member states at the end of the month. “It is a preventive tool for the early detection of challenges and solutions,” she said.
Introducing a new plan to combat racism, the president of the European Commission said the EU would expand the list of crimes to include all hate crimes and language directed at race, religion and gender.
His criticism fell on Poland, where some municipalities declared themselves “LGBTQI-free zones”.
“I want to make it clear: LGBTQI-free areas are areas without humanity, they have no place in our Union,” he said.
Mr. von der Leyen suggested that Europe have its own Magnicki list. Sanctions would be imposed on human rights violators.
The poisoning of A. Navaln is an example
The head of the EC finally said that the poisoning of the Russian opponent Alexei Navaln shows once again how Russia is behaving in the international arena.
“To all who are in favor of closer relations with Russia, I would like to say that the chemical poisoning of Alexei Navaln is not an isolated case,” von der Leyen said in his first annual report to the European Parliament.
According to the head of the EC, Russia acted similarly with regard to the poisoning of Georgia and Ukraine, as well as the poisoning of the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal. S. Skripalis and his daughter were poisoned in 2018 in Salisbury, England, by the same group as A. Navaln.
“It just came to our knowledge then [„Nord Stream 2“] that won’t change that, “von der Leyen added.
Instagram photo / Alexei Navalnas with his family at the Charite Clinic
Russia’s most prominent opposition politician, Navaln, felt bad last month on a plane flying from Siberia, where he had gone to investigate corruption and promote his “smart vote” campaign against regional elections.
After a plane landing, the 44-year-old politician was taken to the city hospital in Omsk and transferred to a Berlin clinic a few days later, where doctors found him poisoned by a paralyzing nerve substance developed by the Soviet Union. of the Novičiok group.
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