Mairead Maguire Reports from Strasbourg

IT’S BEEN A tough summer for the leadership of the EU – and coming out of it, the President of the European Commission must make the annual State of the Union speech tomorrow.

In July, Ursula von der Leyen, now in her second term of the presidency, survived a rare vote of no confidence, tabled by the far right over text messages she exchanged with the head of Pfizer during negotiations about Covid-19 vaccines.

While that saga may have concluded, von der Leyen is not out of the woods.

Members from the right and the left are threatening to bring forward another confidence motion.

The Left political group in the European Parliament and, at the opposite end of the political spectrum, the Patriots for Europe alliance of MEPs are working on two separate motions that will likely be tabled in the coming weeks, or as soon as they can get the required 72 signatures.

The Left says it has a number of problems with von der Leyen’s leadership – but it’s understood that high on the list are the Commission’s softly-softly response to Israel’s attacks on and starvation of the people of Gaza, and the advancement of the controversial Mercosur deal.

As pressure mounts and divisions deepen, von der Leyen will tomorrow set out how she thinks things are going, and give a flavour of what political initiatives are next on her agenda.

What is a State of the Union speech?

The EU president’s State of the Union speech is a lot like that of the American president’s.

It’s a kick-off of the political season and a check-in with the president on how things are going – or at least how she says they’re going.

The tradition started in 2010, and since then the EU has tried hard to make it a major set piece in the European political calendar. However, a flurry of events and a grand speech can fall flat with members, who want to see tangible change.

What do Irish MEP’s want to hear?

Ahead of the speech, The Journal asked Irish MEPs what they want to see von der Leyen touch on.

Three main themes emerged: Gaza, the Mercosur deal and Trump’s tariffs.

Fine Gael MEP Maria Walsh – part of the same centre-right political family as von der Leyen – said the Commission President’s approach to both matters has weakened her standing with members.

Israel’s war on Palestinians is no longer a political issue but a “moral crisis” and the EU’s inaction is a “stain on the European project”, according to Walsh.

Independent MEP Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan said if von der Leyen “had any conscience”, she’d apologise for the EU’s approach to Gaza and commit to ending the union’s trade agreement with Israel.

Fine Gael MEP Sean Kelly described the killing and starvation of civilians in Gaza as a “humanitarian catastrophe”.

Aside from Gaza and agriculture policy, Fianna Fáil MEP Barry Andrews said she’ll have to answer for “appeasing” President Donald Trump in what was widely considered to be a very bad tariff deal between the EU and the United States.

“I want to see a clear indication on how the EU can help prevent millions of people dying as a direct result of the US administration’s dismantling of the USAID agency,” he said.

Mercosur

The Mercosur pact would see countries progressively remove import duties on 91% of EU goods including cars, chemicals, wine and chocolate. These goods currently face tariffs of up to 35%.

In return, agricultural giant Brazil and its neighbours would be able to sell meat, sugar, honey, soybeans and other products to Europe with fewer restrictions.

However, this has raised fears that a flow of cheaper farming goods would undercut European producers.

Furthermore, red tape and insufficient rewards for greener farming continue to challenge the farming industry.

MEP Barry Cowen said he wants to hear clear commitments from von der Leyen on these issues.

Independent Ireland MEP Ciaran Mullooly said the Mercosur deal undermines the Common Agricultural Policy and could have dire consequences for Irish farmers.

According to him, von der Leyen is “losing the room” in her pursuit of unpopular policy decisions.

Similarly, Andrews said it will be tough for von der Leyen to “steer her presidency back on course”.