State of the Union: Common EU (economic) war on the agenda

The EU meets once a year for the “State of the Union”. This year, Commission President von der Leyen is focusing on joint war preparations and international economic competition.

The annual EU eventState of the Unionis intended to provide an overview of the current status and planned developments in the European Union. On Wednesday, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gave the significant speech. The speech makes it clear that the EU wants to establish itself as an independent world power. In this regard, von der Leyen emphasized on the one hand the strength of the EU, but on the other hand also identified many threats that would acutely endanger the EU.

The most important topics were common European rearmament, economic competitiveness and international relations. But the climate crisis, social media bans and migration policy were also discussed by Commission Chairman von der Leyen.

More joint European armament

Voices are continually being raised in favor of expanding the EU into a military alliance. The demands range from a defensive alliance to a common standing army. A first step in this direction could be taken in the near future. Von der Leyen called for the introduction of oneEU securityabkommenssimilar to NATO article four. This stipulates that if there is an acute threat to their security or sovereignty, alliance states will coordinate with the other member states in order to counter the threat together.

Von der Leyen also announced that the EU wants to strive for its own European Security Council. Such an instrument is necessary in view of the increasing hybrid threats facing the EU. Russia was specifically mentioned in this regard, as it is said to have frequently tested the EU's external borders recently.

Germany takes command of a “European NATO”

Overall, the EU leadership is planning a course towards more military integration and cooperation. This is primarily a reaction to the increasingly concrete preparations for a direct military confrontation with Russia and the change of course in US foreign policy.

In the face of a USA that no longer wants to act as a protective power for the militarily weaker European NATO partner states, the EU is planning to grow closer together militarily in order to protect its own great power ambitions. However, it was also emphasized that an EU-wide security agreement should not be a replacement for the existing NATO. The development of the increasingly loose NATO alliance, in which the individual major powers concentrate on their own interests, continues.

This plan to form a military bloc may not make some EU member states so happy. On the one hand, less influential countries fear for their foreign policy self-determination. On the other hand, such a treaty offers cause for concern for the powerful member states. Germany and France in particular are currently engaged in a competition to see who can set the tone militarily in the EU.

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Ukraine and Canada: Alliance politics for more influence

Ukraine also received attention. As part of the war between Ukraine and Russia, many EU states have invested large amounts of weapons and money in the country. Accordingly, there is an interest in intensifying cooperation between Ukraine and the EU and ensuring with further arms deliveries that Ukraine can repay its debts and that the investments are profitable for the EU states.

Aside from Russia and Ukraine, other EU-external actors were given space in von der Leyen's speech. Particular attention was paid to thisCanada, which, as a candidate for an EU association agreement, could set a precedent for a new type of EU membership.

Both Canada and the EU are suffering from US sanctions. It is therefore hoped that increased cooperation will make both parties more independent of US influences. However, what the cooperation between the EU and Canada could actually look like will only become clear over the next few weeks.

Economic war with China in focus

AlsoChinawas mentioned in the speech. Ursula von der Leyen criticized the EU's trade deficit with China. The economies of the EU states have a dangerous dependence on China, particularly for important raw materials. However, tangible plans on how to deal with these dependencies or how to reduce the export deficit were not discussed.

The economic conflict between the EU and China has been simmering for some time now. At the end of last year he threatened because of a conflict over theChipmaker Nexperiato boil over. Overall, the conflict is characterized primarily by mutual dependence: European monopolies are dependent on raw materials and, above all, cheap Chinese production, while Chinese corporations need the European market to sell products - especially in the face of the ever-increasing economic war with the USA.

The fact that von der Leyen is now once again focusing on the trade deficit highlights this very relationship: China produces and sells to Europe. While this relationship has ensured high profits for European companies for decades, Chinese production is increasingly becoming a threat as the People's Republic rises. How drastic this problem is for European companies is shown, for example, by the crisis in German industry - especially the automotive sector. It remains to be seen how quickly we can make production, which has largely been outsourced, more independent again. Dependence on raw materials also continues to represent a major hurdle.

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Apart from China, the EU wants to strengthen the European internal market and thus offer European companies better conditions compared to international competition. The specific outlook that von der Leyen gives regarding the economy primarily relates to combating different implementations of EU regulations in individual member states. This is intended to simplify trade and banking transactions in the EU.

Climate adaptation instead of combating climate change

The extreme heat of this summer has caused major waves in society and is now forcing politicians to act. Here comesvon der Leyen's outlookalbeit tantamount to surrender. Instead of giving the appropriate space in her speech to combating climate change, the EU Commission President focuses on adapting to it. Von der Leyen admits that she has neglected protection against the effects of climate change and vows to now push this forward.

The EU wants to continue to fight global warming, but within the well-known framework. The aim is to stick to the EU's current climate protection goals instead of giving climate protection the necessary priority.

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Even tougher migration policy

Meanwhile, von der Leyen is promising tougher action on the issue of migration. In this sense, a procedure should be created that should give states greater flexibility in dealing with larger flows of refugees. This probably means the creation of a special procedure that could be used to expel asylum seekers without first checking whether the person concerned is entitled to asylum. There are also plans to expand the European border guard Frontex.

In view of the CEAS agreement that has just started, which massively restricts the rights of migrants and enables practices hostile to human rights, the renewed announcement of further measures shows the enormous acceleration of the tightening of EU border policy. On the one hand, the EU's anti-migrant projects serve the xenophobic climate in the individual EU states. On the other hand, the EU is preparing for the ever-increasing flows of refugees triggered by climate change.

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Digital: Less social media, more AI

After some EU countries have independently adopted guidelines banning social media for children and young people, the EU now wants to join in with a common regulation. Accordingly, children up to the age of 13 should be excluded from social media platforms. For other age groups, a system is planned that limits young people's online time and involves parents more in use. It is still questionable to what extent such a regulation would be feasible for the companies concerned.

The EU also wants to become active in artificial intelligence (AI). The risks that AI poses should be limited here. Above all, the EU should expand competition with the currently undisputed AI giants in the USA and China. In order to set up effective regulations, meetings with AI specialists are planned.

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