Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) – On 16 September 2020, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivered a keynote speech to MEPs on the situation in the EU. This was her first appeal since taking office in 2019.

The main purpose of the message “Building the world we want to live in: Union of vitality in a world of fragility” was to summarize the results of the first year of the renewed European Commission and determine the priorities for further activities.

Presenting her vision of the future of the EU, U. Leyen outlined the key areas of development, the relevance of which has increased many times over now.

1) The situation with the pandemic and its impact on European countries became the central topic of the speech. According to the German politician, "the coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc across the continent, threatening to turn into a major economic and health crisis by winter." At the same time, in her opinion, this moment makes it possible for Europe to move to a new life force.

In this regard, the head of the European Commission called for the introduction of a single minimum wage throughout Europe. She also stated the need to strengthen the unity and coordination of the EU countries in health issues that fall within the competence of states, and called for the creation of a common European medical system, the so-called. European Health Union. To this end, the EU plans to convene a European Health Summit in 2021.

Commenting on this part of U. Leyen’s statement, Politico notes that the initiative to expand Brussels’ powers in the health sector is caused by Europe’s "chaotic response" to the COVID-19 outbreak and the lack of "noticeable coordination" between countries in the fight against the pandemic. At the same time, observers of the Euractiv resource expressed doubts about the readiness of states to transfer their powers in the field of health care to Brussels.

2) Climatic changes. The President of the European Commission announced an ambitious EU plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% compared to 1990 levels by 2030. The official target so far for the EU has been to reduce this indicator by 40%.

As U. Leyen emphasized, in order to achieve climate goals, the European Parliament intends to allocate up to 37% of the budget of its economic recovery program in the amount of 750 billion euros. According to the head of the European Commission, the European economy is able to provide a more radical decline.

In assessing this statement, Der Spiegel points out that the EU’s climate strategy is fraught with high risks and the European Commission has not yet specifically defined a “fair burden sharing” between countries on the path to a “green economy”. Another German publication also believes that the economic problems in European states in connection with the pandemic have become an additional obstacle to the climate plan.

3) Digital technologies. Having designated the coming years as the European “digital decade”, U. Leyen proposed spending 20% of the EU recovery fund on digital initiatives. The main measures in this direction will be: a) the creation of common data spaces; b) development of a mechanism for digital identification of a person across the EU;

c) production of our own supercomputers.

As the German Tagesspiegel emphasizes, such an agenda is especially relevant against the backdrop of the pandemic crisis, when 40% of people in rural areas in Europe still do not have access to broadband Internet.

4) Migration issues. The head of the European Commission voiced a demand for the heads of European states to intensify efforts to solve the problem of migration, calling it a "common European challenge". U. Leyen noted that on 23 September 2020 will present a draft of a new EU migration pact and announced its intention to cancel the so-called. Dublin Agreement, according to which the responsibility for the accommodation of migrants is assigned to the country through which they entered the European Union. At the same time, Brussels will strengthen its assistance to the surrounding regions of the world aimed at ensuring stability and development.

However, New York Times observers have expressed doubts that the upcoming pact can end disputes between member countries. The publication considers it possible for the European Commission to make proposals to expand the financial responsibility of Eastern European countries for protecting European borders if they do not want to accept refugees.

5) Foreign policy priorities. U. Leyen criticized the EU’s “too slow” response to external challenges and suggested changing the mechanism for making key decisions on foreign policy issues - from “unanimous” to “qualified majority”.

At the same time, insisting on the intensification of multilateral cooperation, the President of the European Commission stressed that the global system has fallen into a "creeping paralysis", and the EU should lead reforms in such systems as the UN, WTO and WHO.

In general, experts welcomed the message of the head of the European Commission, carefully prepared and effectively presented in several European languages. U. Leyen managed to “ardently” speak in “such difficult times of a pandemic, requiring extraordinary performances”.

As noted by France 24, U. Leyen’s first speech on the situation in the European Union turned out to be extremely specific on some points, and during the current crisis this should “instill unprecedented confidence in Europeans”.

According to the Brussels-based analytical center Bruegel, the confident performance of the German politician who heads the main governing body of the EU is a direct result of the impressive package of measures achieved by the Franco-German tandem to restore the European economy. The plan, dubbed "The Next Generation of Europe", put at the disposal of the European Commission US$1.82 trillion. Euro. This is the amount that the former EU leaders “could not even think of”. All this gives "significant strength and influence" to the current chairman of the EC.

At the same time, there are some doubts about the ability of the President of the European Commission to achieve the implementation of the plans, given the existing differences between the EU countries. Taking this into account, political observers expect that U. Leyen should show her firmness in the near future in implementing the priorities of the agenda she has outlined.