In her 2023 State of the Union address, European Commission President von der Leyen outlines the main priorities and flagship initiatives for the year to come, building on the European Union's successes and achievements of the past years. This is the last address in this legislative mandate, ahead of the 2024 European elections. Ahead of the State of the European Union address, Roberta METSOLA, EP President gives a statement on the Parliament's expectations before the SOTEU address.

statement

Strasbourg

plenary session

METSOLA, Roberta (EPP, MT, EP President)

state of the European Union 2023 (T)

Doorstep by Roberta METSOLA, EP President ahead of the State of the European Union

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, Good morning. This is the last state of the European Union in this mandate. And therefore we call this the start of the sprint towards the European elections next year. We look forward to seeing a commitment today to close as many legislative files that we have a lot of them on the table.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, We have had a very difficult pandemic, a very difficult mandate, first of all, with Brexit, then with the pandemic that I just referred to, with an illegal invasion by Russia of Ukraine and a climate emergency besides an energy crisis.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, I think it's time that we all say that the European Union needs to reform, it needs to reboot, and we need to be able to answer the questions that citizens ask from us and the changes that citizens ask from us. The European Union that currently works for 27 will not work for 30 to 33 or 35.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, And it is that vision and that commitment for us to have human centric decisions. For us to be the most climate ambitious continent on the planet, and for us to be able to create that safety net for our small businesses and industries to survive, but also to continue to innovate and to thrive.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, So it's with a lot of excitement that we waited for the commission President's State of the Union today and the reaction of all the members of the European Parliament. I think we can be more agile financially and structurally, and I think we can look for the change that people expect from us.

Q&A, Do you expect the Commission President to run again for an election? And would you be supportive of this?

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, I think the President has done a fantastic job. I think we need to look back at this very difficult mandate. We have been going from one crisis, if you want to call it to another. And we have seen unprecedented unity. And that, I think, is what the president will focus on.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, And I think us as a parliament have also acted with unprecedented efficiency and efficacy, with decisions, whether on gas storage, whether on macro financial assistance to countries like Ukraine and Moldova. And these are decisions that I think will become the order of the day.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, Also, as we look at countries that are facing climate catastrophes that like we had with the Greek prime minister yesterday, countries that are asking the EU to be more flexible. And I think that's what will be the focus.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, I think we have no option, except to conclude the immigration pact. This is a pillar of our ambitions, of our plans. In 2019, citizens from all countries in Europe told us to find solutions because solutions cannot be found at the national level.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, We must find ourselves only at the European level and on this no member country is excluded from the decision. Now we are trying to find in Parliament, we are working hard. Yesterday we had trilogues on laws that are and that take the balance of being fair to those who have the right to protection, of being firm with those who do not have.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, We need a return policy that is much stronger current than what we don't have now. And we also need to be very strong with the world's most vulnerable human traffickers. We don't have ten years since the Lampedusa tragedy, we haven't done enough, we haven't, if I can say, done anything from the high legislature and we shouldn't have been there for our citizens. Because they're going to ask us for the next term of office.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, And now I will switch to English. The next mandate needs to continue to rely on a pro-European constructive centre, and if we do not cross that invisible line and loose the citizens, we can keep them. Thank you very much.