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The speech will take place at 8am Irish time tomorrow. Alamy Stock Photo
State of Play
What’s on von der Leyen’s agenda for her big EU speech tomorrow, and what are Irish MEPs hoping for?
Online safety, energy costs, Ukraine, Gaza and migration; von der Leyen has plenty competing for space in tomorrow’s address.
URSULA VON DER Leyen will step up to the lectern in Strasbourg on Wednesday morning with no shortage of problems competing for space in her annual State of the European Union address.
War on Europe’s borders, an increasingly unpredictable relationship with the United States, rising defence spending, the Middle East, housing, migration, energy prices and keeping children safe online are all jostling for the European Commission President’s attention.
MEPs, officials and journalists have been gathering in Strasbourg ahead of von der Leyen’s address to the European Parliament at 9am (8am Irish time) tomorrow.
The State of the European Union, commonly shortened to SOTEU, is part report card and part political wishlist: a chance for the Commission President to account for the past year and set out what comes next.
Last year’s address was described by one parliament spokesperson today as a “Christmas tree full of presents”, with around 60 proposals hanging from it.
Commission officials would not say whether tomorrow’s speech will be quite as heavily decorated, but pointed towards competitiveness, defence, Ukraine, climate change, energy costs, migration, democracy and online safety among the issues occupying Brussels.
Ukraine, kids and cost of living
Von der Leyen has already teased that she will speak about Ukraine and plans to protect children online.
Fine Gael MEP Regina Doherty expects the latter to be one of the most significant announcements, with the Commission’s new EU Kids Act due to be presented on Thursday.
Her party colleague Seán Kelly, however, described leaked proposals which would continue to allow some social media access for under-16s as a “cop out” and called for an outright ban.
Housing is also likely to feature after the Commission published its Affordable Housing Act last week.
Asked what he most hoped to hear from von der Leyen tomorrow, Labour MEP Aodhán Ó Ríordáin had a straightforward answer: “Housing mainly.”
Independent Ireland MEP Ciarán Mullooly said there was “general disappointment” among his Renew Europe colleagues over indications that farming would receive little attention.
Asked whether agriculture could realistically compete with the wars and security challenges facing Europe, Mullooly said it was “unbelievable” that an area accounting for such a significant share of EU spending could be left out.
“Food security must be as important, truly, as any national or European security,” he said.
Sinn Féin MEP Kathleen Funchion has also called for a focus on “everyday issues” including the cost of living and the livelihoods of farmers, fishers and workers.
Migration
Migration is also expected to feature after a large influx of migrants into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in July put renewed pressure on the EU’s border and asylum system.
Several options are reportedly under consideration, including temporarily suspending asylum rules during sudden large-scale arrivals and giving the European Border and Coast Guard a greater role in deportations and monitoring migration routes outside Europe.
Another option would see EU money used to help fund controversial “return hubs” in non-EU countries, where rejected asylum seekers could be sent.
Von der Leyen pledged two years ago to triple the number of European Border and Coast Guard Agency staff, with a wider overhaul of the agency’s mandate expected before the end of this year.
What about Gaza?
Another question is how prominently Palestine and Israel will feature.
Last year’s speech included one of von der Leyen’s strongest interventions on Gaza, when she described the famine as “man-made” and announced plans for sanctions against extremist Israeli ministers and violent settlers and the partial suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
The Commission subsequently struggled to secure sufficient support among member states.
Since then, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has said Israel’s actions in Gaza went “beyond self-defence” and, more recently, argued that the EU should stop trading with illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
But the ceasefire in Gaza has reduced some of the immediate political pressure which surrounded last year’s address.
“I don’t think she’ll get away with not mentioning it, but she’s not under the pressure she was last year,” Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan said.
Fianna Fáil’s Barry Andrews said that Palestine was the one issue he most wanted addressed, but was not optimistic about another major intervention from von der Leyen.
“She’s just not going to go there again,” he said.
A Canadian in the chamber
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will be among those watching tomorrow before addressing the European Parliament himself on Thursday.
“It’s not a coincidence that Prime Minister Carney is attending the SOTEU address tomorrow,” a Commission spokesperson told reporters.
“It conveys a signal of strengthening partnerships with countries with whom we have much in common.”
Canada is the only non-European country participating in the EU’s SAFE defence programme, while the parliament is establishing an office in Ottawa covering Canada and the Arctic.
Carney’s visit will also put renewed attention on CETA, the EU-Canada trade agreement which Ireland has yet to formally ratify.
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