The annual State of the Union speech, to be made on Wednesday 13 September by the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, will dominate the agenda of the first plenary session of the European Parliament following the summer break, from Monday 11 to Thursday 14 September.
With 18 months to go until the end of a term in office that he will not seek to renew, Juncker will list the Commission's political priorities for 2018, whilst outlining his personal vision of a Europe that he feels is much more than just a marketplace.
As announced in the White Paper on the future of the EU of 27 (see EUROPE 11736), the State of the Union speech will allow the former Luxembourg Prime Minister to flesh out this sixth scenario, which has his strong personal support. He will address areas as varied as Eurozone governance, where Juncker will stress his preference for the Community method over the inter-governmental method, trade and migration policies, the climate and the Commission's expected leadership by example.
Juncker, who firmly believes that Europe must do more in the social area, will have the opportunity to reiterate certain major principles ('equal pay for equal work''), echoing the agenda of a 'Europe that protects' defended in Athens by the French President, Emmanuel Macron (see other article).
In 2017, circumstances seem more conducive to a speech that has more to say about European integration: strengthening economic recovery throughout the EU suggests that the Eurozone is coming out of crisis; the poor showing in recent European elections of populist candidates has given the pro-European political groupings new hope; unprecedented security measures have been taken to contain migration flows and the EU once again looks like a reliable international partner to tackle major global imbalances, such as climate disruption.
This current situation allows us to be reasonably optimistic and to have a moment of European ambition, although we are not yet entirely out of the woods, the Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Pierre Moscovici, said earlier this week. However, Juncker often reminds his interlocutors of the need for Europeans to stay humble, in view of their continent's gradual loss of economic and demographic influence (see EUROPE 11850).
Even so, expectations are high among the political families and economic players alike for this meeting, which was initiated by Juncker's predecessor. At the Parliament, there is no appetite for confrontation between pro-European political forces, but there is a willingness to demonstrate the EU's ability to respond to the expectations of European citizens, although the grand coalition between the EPP and S&D groups dissolved after the election of Antonio Tajani. This is our last window of opportunity to allow the European institutions to provide better European solutions, Maria João Rodrigues (S&D, Portugal) said on Thursday 7 September.
In the run-up to the State of the Union speech, Parliament's President Tajani will address the plenary to take stock of the first six months of his presidency. The chair of the EPP group, Germany's Manfred Weber, who is heavily involved in the current German election campaign, is not expected to be too critical of the former leader of his political family in the European elections of 2014. He will argue in favour of defending the European social model and for progress on defence and the fight against terror. The Social Democrats will support Juncker on Eurozone reform and creating a social Europe. On behalf of the Liberals, Belgium's Guy Verhofstadt will plead the importance of leaving pessimism behind, a spokesperson said on Friday 8 September. According to the ECR group, European policies would be more successful if they had the support of the citizens in advance, in reference to the compulsory relocation mechanism for migrants in particular. As for the GUE/NGL group, it intends to share its vision of another Europe, which rejects budgetary austerity and security measures.
The debate can be followed directly at: http://www.soteu.eu
Other dossiers are also included on the plenary session agenda. On Monday, the draft 'Giegold' report on transparency and integrity within the European institutions, which would allow MEPs to carry out lobbying immediately after they leave office, will be debated and voted upon on Thursday (see EUROPE 11750). The EPP and S&D groups oppose the requirement of transparency for MEPs' meetings with interest groups.
Another controversial dossier concerns accessibility requirements for elderly and disabled people to products and services, for instance online (see article). The S&D and GUE/NGL groups do not feel that the draft 'Løkkegaard' report goes far enough.
On Tuesday, the MEPs will discuss recent developments in the field of migration, after the Court of Justice of the EU rejected Slovakian and Hungarian appeals against the relocation mechanism for asylum seekers (see EUROPE 11856). They will discuss the possibility of improving the EU's early warning system for foodstuffs, in the light of the Fipronil scandal (see EUROPE 11857). Furthermore, the Greens/EFA group has managed to secure a debate on tightening up European environmental standards in the wake of the latest developments in the 'dieselgate' affair (see EUROPE 11857).
Concerning external policy, the MEPs will hold debates with the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, on the situation in North Korea and Venezuela and relations between the EU and Turkey, Latin America and India.
It is worth noting that Parliament will decide on its negotiating position with the Council of the EU on extending the derogation to the emissions quotas trading system (ETS) for long-haul flights until the end of 2020 (see EUROPE 11827). It will do likewise on reinforcing provisions on the multi-annual management plan for demersal stocks (cod, haddock, etc.) in the North Sea (see EUROPE 11828).
Several inter-institutional agreements will be approved in the following areas: - the revision of the rules on the security of gas supply, in order to prevent crises (see EUROPE 11776); - the WiFi4EU initiative, to provide support for three years to installing free Internet access in public places (see EUROPE 11798); - rules to stimulate investments in venture capital and social enterprises (see EUROPE 11799). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)