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Therefore, the speech should refer to the Commission’s measures to respond to the health, economic and social crisis caused by Covid-19, but also to Europe’s recovery plan, the fight against climate change, the new measures in the field of migration and asylum and the situation in the neighboring countries of Europe.
Antenna 1
Portuguese MEPs await Ursula Von der Leyen’s speech with interest and consider that there are issues that cannot be left aside.
Carlos Zorrinho, elected by the PS, also wants to hear from a president of the solidarity committee.
“Deeply allied with countries that want sustainable progress for the European Union, because the strategies are correct: leading the energy transition, leading the digital transition. We also need a response that is credible and robust in relation to migration..
Paulo Rangel wants to talk about the importance of the rule of law and mobility in the Schengen area and pay special attention to Brexit.
“There is a very tense situation and even some hostility between the Boris Johnson government and the European institutions. I imagine what the Portuguese citizens are going through because at the moment everything is at stake “.
Humanity is what the MEP of the Left Bloc wants to be present in Ursula Von der Leyen’s speech.
“You cannot lack the answers to the problems that people face. The crisis has greatly increased poverty and inequality. We are experiencing tragedies at the borders, around the Union and within the Union. There are many tragic situations, like many refugees “.
João Ferreira, from PCP, also highlights the importance of knowing the need to strengthen the European budget
“It was essential that we still had time to reverse the planned cut to the multiannual financial framework and whatever happens to the recovery fund”.
Nuno Melo, from the CDS-PP, wants the State of the Union speech not to forget the issue of migration.
“It is a very topical issue and affects many people, starting with the migrants and refugees who are lost and abandoned across Europe.”.
Francisco Guerreiro, elected by the PAN but now independent, wants to hear that climate issues will be the basis of the European response to the pandemic.
“Not only by the recovery fund but by the multiannual financial framework, it is guaranteed that this is the basis of the economic and social recovery of Europe”.
The topics that divide
The State of the Union: that is, where you are and where you want to be. No one would have imagined that this year, Ursula von der Leyen’s first, would be marked by a pandemic that shook society, weakened the economy and still casts doubt on the future.
Therefore, how to deal with this virus, economically and socially, seems to unite Europe. The desire, at least, because the way to achieve it generated divisions when it was necessary to lay the foundations of a recovery plan.
Antena 1 asked the Portuguese MEPs which differences they consider most striking in a Union that wants to bet more on the green agreement, on digitization, on cohesion and on foreign geopolitics.
Carlos Zorrinho considers that there are still divergences in the way we want to continue this project.
“There are different opinions on how the European Union should evolve. In particular, the existence of some so-called frugal countries that see the Union essentially as a market ”.
The PS MEP identifies another problem: “More recently, the so-called countries you illiberate that have sought to distort the essential constitutional values of the European Union ”.
Antenna 1
Paulo Rangel believes that the desire to have a more humane migration policy is common, but it can generate divisions.
“It is possible that now there is a very large vacancy because many countries will suffer a lot from the crisis and, therefore, unemployment will increase. And this is also a fact for migrations because with high unemployment in Europe the space to receive migrants is less ”.
The PSD MEP also admits that compliance with the rule of law can create a divide between states.
“Clearly Poland and Hungary will be in the opposition, but also other countries such as the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and possibly even Malta may have problems in respecting fundamental rights and, above all, freedom of the press.”
There are common wills, yes, but Marisa Matias, from the Bloco de Esquerda, also identifies how countries tend to react, as a factor that does not facilitate the identification of common priorities.The State of the Union is presented by the President of the European Commission and can even create more ambitious targets for the European green deal and digitization. Two of the great bets of Ursula von der Leyen that must accompany all the recovery that we want to make, on the 27th, of the European economy.
“There is national selfishness at the moment. And the rules of the internal market have also created more divergence than approximation. But what can unite the most is cohesion policy and common policies. So that there is greater equity in access and redistribution of resources ”.
For PCP MEP João Ferreira, the lack of coordination in the reaction to the pandemic does not help in a common fight, especially in terms of health.
“Lack of coordination also to guarantee uniform and judicious driving conditions in the European space. On the other hand, there is also lack of coordination in the response to the economic consequences of the pandemic because the budget reinforcement failed. We fixed a file that hides the cut that the Budget will suffer, but that will have consequences in the future ”.
Nuno Melo, from the CDS-PP, believes that what now unites Europe most, the fight against the pandemic, can also separate it.
“Probably because of the way in which we overcome this pandemic crisis, a federalist puncture may arise that tends to take advantage of the consequences of Covid-19 to force certain federalist efforts such as the creation of own resources.
Independent MEP Francisco Guerreiro admits that there are still some national strategic interests that make understanding between Member States difficult..
“Several States within the European Union that hinder the process of negotiating the multiannual financial framework, not complying with the rules of European law, and creating some facilities in the negotiation of own resources.”
