Last week, it was time for the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen’s annual State of the European Union (SOTEU) address. This speech is so major that the Commission had even put a countdown clock on its website, indicating how long we – and everyone else in the EU bubble – had to wait until Ursula von der Leyen finally took centre stage in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. This year was extra special, as the address marked the first SOTEU speech of Von der Leyen’s second mandate.
Why is this speech so important? When it comes to the State of the European Union address, the President of the European Commission reflects upon the past year, outlines the EU’s political priorities, and while doing so, also announces some new initiatives. However, the tone of this year's SOTEU was different. Von der Leyen painted an accurate – but nevertheless sombre and alarming – picture of the current geopolitical upheaval. She called on Europe to take decisive action – and even called on it to fight – for its peace, prosperity, freedom and democracy. She warned that ″battlelines for a new world order based on power are being drawn right now″ – and under this impression, she urged that Europe must become independent.
What does this imply for the pharmaceutical industry? To come straight to the point, health policy was by no means a dominant theme in the SOTEU address. Yes, following the US withdrawal from the World Health Organisation, the EU wants to take on a global leadership role and launch a new Global Health Resilience Initiative. And yes, Von der Leyen, who also referred to her training as a medical doctor, sharply criticised disinformation on ″everything from measles to polio″ – while at the same time taking a jab at the US Secretary of Health. But there was no mention of this year’s landmark health policy legislation, the Critical Medicines Act – or even the pharma package.
However, we should bear in mind some key points that Von der Leyen mentioned. Of course, this season’s political buzzword could not be left out: competitiveness. After all, no SOTEU speech would be complete without it. In this spirit, the President of the European Commission praised the future Competitiveness Fund to facilitate investment, promised an increase in the Horizon Europe budget – the EU’s research and innovation programme, emphasised the future potential of biotechnology, – and hailed the omnibuses for simplification, as they ″will make a real difference″ for companies.
Interestingly, she also announced that the Commission plans to introduce a “Made in Europe” criterion in public procurement. This idea – also broadly supported in the European Parliament – is likely to gain further momentum from next year onwards, when the Commission plans to propose a revision of the existing directives.
Von der Leyen also stressed the need to capitalise on new opportunities when it comes to international partnerships, trade and diversification of supply chains. Possible measures to this end include bilateral agreements with Mexico or Mercosur. Another opportunity would be a finalised trade deal with India. After more than twenty years of negotiations, this would truly be a major step forward.
It can only be in all our interests for the EU to achieve the goals it has set itself. And even though autumn has arrived, ″we simply cannot wait for this storm to pass″, as the President of the Commission rightly pointed out.
Contact: Ina Koch, (BPI office Brussels), bpi.brussels@bpi.de
Hinweis: Die Verwendung des Fotos ist unter der Quellenangabe Shutterstock_Alexandros Michailidis und in Verbindung mit dem Brussels Background honorarfrei.