Excerpt from Volt Europa:
Standing in front of the European Parliament for her State of the European Union address earlier this month, Ursula von der Leyen delivered an address that resembled more a motivational speech praising her leadership rather than a balanced assessment of the successes and failures the Bloc has achieved under her tenure.
Praising the Union’s strong investments in digital technologies while calling for more dialogue on renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, and adding new member-states, von der Leyen also came out strongly against the Chinese electric vehicle market, but remained passive on climate action. Her silence on the EU’s 2024 plans for new emissions reductions, on banning fossil fuel subsidies across the Union and how it will approach the upcoming United Nations climate summit in Dubai, COP28, casts a long shadow following another record-breaking year in terms of climate extremes and damage across Europe.
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