The first words of Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the Union address on Wednesday 15 September were, unsurprisingly, devoted to the health crisis and the means by which the Europeans have dealt with it. While the EU has reached its target of vaccinating 70% of its adult population and has “met [its] global commitments”, the President of the European Commission, although proud of this achievement, acknowledged that there is still “no reason” to “rest on our laurels”.
“Our...