A few days before the European Commission Presidency’s State of the Union address in Strasbourg on Wednesday 15 September, the European Parliament is also taking stock.
The President of the institution, David Sassoli, and the chairs of the political groups received the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on Thursday 9 September for their traditional meeting prior to this exercise. This was an opportunity for everyone to set out their expectations and for the President to set the tone.
According to our information, Mrs von der Leyen first of all emphasised the “successes” achieved by the EU in the context of the health crisis: i.e. the measures implemented to mitigate the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic - the vaccination strategy and the European digital certificate, in particular - as well as the measures adopted to ensure the Union’s recovery.
The President also stressed the importance of working to build a more resilient Europe, before addressing the main priorities of her mandate: the Green Deal and the digital transition.
She also took stock of the EU’s social ambitions, referring to the Oporto Summit and the Union’s role in the world - a role that has been called into question in recent weeks in the context of the political crisis in Afghanistan.
The issue of migration and asylum - also back in the spotlight recently - was also briefly mentioned by the President and is therefore expected to be addressed in the speech on Wednesday.
Mrs von der Leyen, on the other hand, reportedly did not mention the Conference on the Future of Europe in her speech. However, the subject was proposed by the group chairs. The latter also took stock of their priorities and used the meeting to remind the President of the Commission of her role as guardian of the Treaties and of her responsibilities for the respect of the Rule of law.
406 initiatives promised, 101 adopted so far
Thursday 9 September also saw the publication of a report by the European Parliament’s research services on the state of play of the work undertaken by the von der Leyen Commission.
Of the 406 initiatives promised - many of them legislative proposals, but also strategies, action plans, and recommendations - just over half (212) have so far been presented.
And 101 have been adopted. Of the 111 initiatives still under discussion, 25 are currently blocked and 10 are close to adoption, the report says.
However, progress varies from one part of the programme to another. Of the six priorities set out when the von der Leyen Commission took office in December 2019, the third has made the most progress to date, namely “An economy that works for people”. Of the 76 initiatives promised in this area, 29 have already been adopted - compared to 13 out of 73, for example, for the digital component.
“The need to recover urgently from the economic consequences of the pandemic explains this result and why the third priority has overtaken the lead expected for the second [...] in terms of initiatives planned, tabled and adopted”, the research service says.
The Green Deal is by far the priority with the most initiatives: 90 in total. However, only one third of them have been presented at this stage, and 15 of them have been adopted.
The coronavirus crisis, however, has not hindered progress on this priority, the research department comments. “On the contrary, the EU is using the instruments for crisis recovery to advance climate action, by requiring Member States to spend 37 % of EU funding in the Recovery and Resilience Facility on climate investment and reforms”, it says.
Finally, while progress has been made on the “Stronger Europe in the World” component - for which almost three out of four initiatives have already been presented - the report notes that “a lot of work” remains to be done on the components devoted to the promotion of the European way of life and the “new push for democracy”, on which almost half of the proposals are still pending.
To consult the report: https://bit.ly/3BVZeKH (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)