While in previous years, the Commission president’s annual address has been about a list of ideas and policies the EU should implement, this time a combination of more fragile national governments and the myriad challenges facing the world meant von der Leyen sounded more like she was delivering a direct appeal to Europeans about what kind of place they want to live in.
And in this more fragmented world, as Carney’s attendance signaled, for von der Leyen, “Europe” now means more than just the European Union.
“This is a Europe that stands up for each other,” she said, referencing two specific examples ― Ukraine and Greenland, neither of which are in the EU. She didn’t mention either of their antagonists, Russia and the U.S., by name.
“Europe is there for Europeans,” she said. “And that in the cold fragility of today’s world, only Europe can provide true sovereignty to Europeans.”
Von der Leyen said she wanted to make Canada “the first associate member of the EU,” adding she wanted to bring the relationship between the bloc and the North American country “to the highest possible level.”
While she underscored that partnership was “not against anyone else,” with Canada involved in an even more bitter trade dispute with the U.S. than the EU is, this plan would put von der Leyen and Europe firmly at odds with the White House.
‘Tipping points’
Even as von der Leyen is forced to confront the existential threats facing the continent, she made a point of saying she heard the day-to-day concerns of the bloc’s 450 million people. With nationalist far-right parties gaining greater support in the EU’s biggest countries ― including the Alternative for Germany winning its first German state election and the National Rally on track to make Marine Le Pen French president next year ― the Commission president attempted to appeal to voters and politicians to tack to the center ground.
So while with AI and climate change, von der Leyen zeroed in on two of the greatest perils of our times, saying they they were at “tipping points,” she put them in the context of needing to manage them properly to ensure “future prosperity and security.”