This coming Wednesday will see Commission President Ursula von der Leyen give the annual State of the European Union (SOTEU) address from the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

With many people criticising the EU’s relevancy to the modern world, as well as its inability to act, the SOTEU has become a key tool in the fight against misinformation and disinformation about the EU, and has been used to legitimise the Union as a political institution at the supranational level.

Before we look at what to expect, here are some of the key points from the 2021 SOTEU, what was promised by von der Leyden, and what actually happened.

The Key Points for SOTEU 2021

💻The European Chips Act

What was said:

“We will present a new European Chips Act. We need to link together our world-class research, design and testing capacities. We need to coordinate EU and national investment along the value chain.

The aim is to jointly create a state-of-the-art European chip ecosystem, including production. That ensures our security of supply and will develop new markets for ground-breaking European tech.

Yes, this is a daunting task. And I know that some claim it cannot be done, but they said the same thing about Galileo 20 years ago. And look what happened. We got our act together. Today European satellites provide the navigation system for more than 2 billion smartphones worldwide.

We are world leaders. So let's be bold again, this time with semi-conductors.”

Setting the objective to double the EU’s global market share in the semiconductor industry to 20% by 2030 was one of the big announcements of last year, and one that elicited a lot of scepticism. However, it has been one of the big hopes for the EU to achieve its strategic autonomy.

The EU Chips Act was proposed by the European Commission, which is currently recommending that Member States start coordinating immediately in order to understand where the bottlenecks and the stressors in the supply chain are, while the European Parliament and member states discuss the Chips Act as per the Ordinary Legislative Procedure.

However, in terms of short-term results, work has been focused more on negotiating the on-shoring of semiconductor factories as well as reinforcing the research capacities at the European level, with more work needed to be done to combat issues such as investment, and the sourcing of materials required to produce the equipment.

🤝The Global Gateway Partnerships

What was said:

“We are good at financing roads. But it does not make sense for Europe to build a perfect road between a Chinese-owned copper mine and a Chinese-owned harbour.

We have to get smarter when it comes to these kinds of investments.

This is why we will soon present our new connectivity strategy called Global Gateway.

We will build Global Gateway partnerships with countries around the world. We want investments in quality infrastructure, connecting goods, people and services around the world.

We want to turn Global Gateway into a trusted brand around the world.

A programme focused on ensuring quality infrastructure, as well as the connection of goods, people and services across the planet, was another major promise intended to push the EU to the forefront as an attractive destination for Foreign Direct Investment that “Work for people and the planet”.

While its currently still in development, there have been some promises made, with a promise of up to €300 billion being pledged in investments to support this, and with regular events being organised to encourage further partnerships to support the event. However, this is something that we may see more of on Wednesday morning.

👧The European Year of Youth

What was said:

“if we are to shape our Union in their mould, young people must be able to shape Europe's future.  Our Union needs a soul and a vision they can connect to.

Or as Jacques Delors asked:  How can we ever build Europe if young people do not see it as a collective project and a vision of their own future?

This is why we will propose to make 2022 the Year of European Youth. A year dedicated to empowering those who have dedicated so much to others.

And it is why we will make sure that young people can help lead the debate in the Conference on the Future of Europe.”

The European Year of Youth, another big project that alongside the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE) was a part of a push to democratise the EU, was another promise from 2021.

Currently taking place, its goal was to enable young people to make their voices heard and to help engage the European youth in policy making at the European level. While the success of this is questionable, the initiative was developed and put forward, and does provide a platform that can be built upon in a similar way to CoFoE.

It has also made young people feel more active and engaged in European politics, even in areas outside of core EU states, which is only something that we can celebrate.

👩‍⚖️The Rule of Law Report

What was said:

“Our values are guaranteed by our legal order and safeguarded by the judgments of the European Court of Justice. These judgments are binding. We make sure that they are respected. And we do so in every Member State of our Union.

Because protecting the rule of law is not just a noble goal. Protecting the rule of law is also hard work and a constant struggle for improvement.

Our Rule of Law reports are part of this process, with for example justice reforms in Malta or corruption inquiries in Slovakia.

And from 2022, our Rule of Law reports will come with specific recommendations to Member States.”

Intended to provide specific recommendations to all EU Member States, this was another promise that was fulfilled, being provided across the board even to states that you wouldn’t think they be provided to.

One good thing about this approach is that this will allow the EU to reinforce all areas of the EU, and also gives the EU some political cover to avoid accusations that it is exclusively targeting Poland and Hungary in particular, even if they would be within their rights to do so.

You can actually read the report here, if you’re interested: 2022 Rule of Law Report

💶A proposal to ensure fair taxation

What was said:

“Social fairness is not just a question of time. It is also a question of fair taxation.

In our social market economy, it is good for companies to make profits. And they make profits thanks to the quality of our infrastructure, social security and education systems.  So the very least we can expect is that they pay their fair share.

This is why we will continue to crack down on tax avoidance and evasion.
We will put forward a new initiative to address those hiding profits behind shell entities.
And we will do everything in our power to seal the historic global deal on minimum taxation.

Asking big companies to pay the right amount of tax is not only a question of public finances, but above all a question of basic fairness.”

Proposed, and developed by the commission, which aims to stop the actions of shell companies, while also reinforcing transparency standards so that these organisations to evade taxes can be more easily detected.

This led to not only action at the EU level, but also international negotiations at the G7 and OECD levels, and saw quite a lot of success, with the OECD proposing a 15% minimum corporate tax that could be applicable across the world.

🦠The Fight Against COVID-19

What was said:

“When I stood in front of you 12 months ago, I did not know when – or even if – we would have a safe and effective vaccine against COVID-19.

But today, and against all critics, Europe is among the world leaders.

More than 70 per cent of adults in the EU are fully vaccinated.  We were the only ones to share half of our vaccine production with the rest of the world. We delivered more than 700 million doses to the European people, and we delivered more than another 700 million doses to the rest of the world, to more than 130 countries.”

An almost forgotten problem due to the invasion of Ukraine, the fight against covid was a big part of the 2021 SOTEU speech, and it was a strong show of European unity that enabled the EU to secure 1.8 billion additional doses of vaccines, that enabled the EU to have enough for member states and the European neighbourhood when it came time for there to be booster shots

🌍 EU Support for Africa

What was said:

“With less than 1% of global doses administered in low-income countries, the scale of injustice and the level of urgency are obvious. This is one of the great geopolitical issues of our time.

Team Europe is investing one billion Euro to ramp up mRNA production capacity in Africa. We have already committed to share 250 million doses.”

Alongside the COVID-19 fight at home, there was a promise that “Team Europe” would help to support mRNA vaccine production capacity in Africa with one billion euros worth of investments, as well as the sharing of 250 million vaccine doses.

This is currently in progress, and has even been built upon, with the provision of additional tools to combat COVID-19, as well as an additional €400 million of support.

🕊HERA

What was said:

“Last year, I said it was time to build a European Health Union. Today we are delivering. With our proposal we get the HERA authority up and running.

This will be a huge asset to deal with future health threats earlier and better.

We have the innovation and scientific capacity, the private sector knowledge, we have competent national authorities. And now we need to bring all of that together, including massive funding. 

So I am proposing a new health preparedness and resilience mission for the whole of the EU. And it should be backed up by Team Europe investment of EUR 50 billion by 2027.”

The Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority, was promised as a cornerstone of the European Health Union, and was intended to ensure the availability, free access, and distribution of medical equipment, countermeasures, manpower and knowledge that would allow the EU to better protect Citizens from threats like COVID-19 in the Future.

HERA has been established as a Directorate-General of the European Commission as of late last year, and was declared operational as of a few months ago. However, more work needs to be done to increase its capacities and abilities to achieve the lofty goals that have been set.

👨‍⚕️European Care Strategy

What was said:

“We will come forward with a new European Care Strategy to support men and women in finding the best care and the best life balance for them.”

This was ‘combined’ with the promise of a European Care Strategy that would allow care givers and receivers to access more affordable and higher quality care across the board.

Currently, the Commission has produced several proposals, which are all being studied by the Member States at the Council level, and we will likely hear more news late this year or early next year.

🇦🇫 Support for Afghanistan

What was said:

“We must continue supporting all Afghans in the country and in neighbouring countries. We must do everything to avert the real risk of a major famine and humanitarian disaster. And we will do our part. We will increase again humanitarian aid for Afghanistan by 100 million euro.

This will be part of a new, wider Afghan Support Package that we will present in the next weeks to combine all of our efforts.”

There was also a promise of a €1 billion Afghan support package, following the takeover by the Taliban, in order to avoid a borderline catastrophic humanitarian and socio-economic collapse in the face of the religious dictatorship.

This was delivered late in 2021, but whether it was successful or not is another story, when you look at the state of the situation in Afghanistan.

🔫The European Defence Union

What was said

“What we need is the European Defence Union.

First, we need to build the foundation for collective decision-making – this is what I call situational awareness.

Secondly, we need to improve interoperability. This is why we are already investing in common European platforms, from fighter jets, to drones and cyber.

Third, we cannot talk about defence without talking about cyber. If everything is connected, everything can be hacked.

This starts with a common assessment of the threats we face and a common approach to dealing with them. The upcoming Strategic Compass is a key process of this discussion.  And we need to decide how we can use all of the possibilities that are already in the Treaty.

This is why, under the French Presidency, President Macron and I will convene a Summit on European defence.”

With the arrival of President Emmanuel Macron, the discussions around a strengthened and unified European defence system intensified, and this was reflected in the SOTEU speech which focused on a reinforcement of the European defence industry. In this case, a roadmap was delivered in May 2021, but there is more work that needs to be done in order to develop the capacities of the EU in this realm, and more investment is needed.

Regarding the Strategic Compass, this was released in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine to much fanfare, and has set a new basis for the way that European defence and security will be organised and built. However, as always, this is just the current iteration, and will need to be developed further in the years to come.

🌐The European Cyber Resilience Act

What was said:

“We should not just be satisfied to address the cyber threat, but also strive to become a leader in cyber security.

It should be here in Europe where cyber defence tools are developed. This is why we need a European Cyber Defence Policy, including legislation on common standards under a new European Cyber Resilience Act.”

Another big promise, but one that has yet to be fulfilled, there has been a promise that more information will be delivered during this years SOTEU speech, with an announcement likely to be made on how a European Cyber Defence Policy will look, and what form the legislation could take.

📹The Media Freedom Act

What was said:

“Information is a public good. We must protect those who create transparency – the journalists. That is why today we have put forward a recommendation to give journalists better protection.

And we need to stop those who threaten media freedom. Media companies cannot be treated as just another business.  Their independence is essential. Europe needs a law that safeguards this independence – and the Commission will deliver a Media Freedom Actin the next year.

Defending media freedom means defending our democracy”

The final jewel of the 2021 SOTEU speech, it fell into a similar position as the European Cyber Resilience Act above, and will hopefully see more information delivered this Wednesday.

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