EU News: Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, described as weak | World | New

The incendiary attack, by a prominent scholar, followed his annual State of the Union address earlier this week. Ms von der Leyen took the opportunity to defend the EU’s record on coronavirus vaccines, commenting: “Today, and against all criticism, Europe is one of the world leaders.

“We did it the right way because we did it the European way. And it worked.

She pledged that the EU would deliver 200 million more coronavirus vaccines to the developing world by the middle of next year.

However, his speech was attacked by Alberto Alemanno, professor of European law at HEC Paris.

He said the EU was unable to “come up with a new initiative” and “remained responsive”.

Writing for Euro News, Mr Alemanno said: “Von der Leyen’s speech embraced a rather solemn (‘I see a strong soul in everything we do’), self-satisfied (‘COVID: we did it the right way “) and slogans (” And in the most serious planetary crisis of all time, once again, we have chosen to partner with the European Green Deal “) set the tone for its past achievements.

“In a time of transformation imposed by Covid, Europeans deserve more than a laundry list of policy measures which, let’s face it, have been forced upon us, not chosen, by events.

“The EU political process alone has proven incapable of proactively proposing a new initiative.

“In essence, EU action remains responsive, and largely driven and shaped by the interests of the Member States, the sum of which tends not to coincide with the EU’s interest.

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“Since the Commission’s job is to identify and promote this interest, von der Leyen emerges as one of the least politically autonomous Presidents of the European Commission, and therefore one of the weakest in history. of the EU. “

On Wednesday, the UK, UK and Australia announced a new military alliance called AUKUS.

A spokesperson for Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign affairs chief, admitted that Brussels had not been given advance notice of the deal.

Mr Alemanno argued that the EU has become less “strategically autonomous” over the past year, as it has struggled to cope with growing authoritarianism in Hungary and Poland.

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Brussels clashed with Warsaw and Budapest over judicial independence and the rule of law.

However, it has not been able to successfully restrict any of the Member States.

Mr Alemanno wrote: “The truth is that over the past year the EU has become less, not more, strategically autonomous due to its major regression to the rule of law and its inability to counter this internal crisis in countries like Poland and Hungary.

“In other words, how can the EU increase its self-sufficiency – from semiconductor manufacturing to defense – while deviating from its founding principle of self-organization of the rule of law?

“Historically, what has united – and kept together – the countries of the EU is not only a set of shared rules, but also and above all a deeper commitment to abide by them.

“Yet recent events in the EU’s response to the coronavirus – both as a health and financial crisis – cast doubt on the Union’s adherence to the rule of law and its relationship to it. this.

“This could have consequences for the future of the Union.

The EU remains stuck in a dispute with Britain over the controversial Northern Ireland protocol.

Mr Johnson’s government is demanding that this be changed significantly, following union fury in the province.

Under the terms of the protocol, controls were introduced on trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.