AmCham is pleased to share a brief outline of  the Sept 15 State of the European Union (#SOTEU) address delivered by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, focusing on the short-term priorities on the European agenda for the coming period.

Healthcare – fighting the pandemic and preparing for future health threats

• increasing vaccination uptake in the EU – 1.8 billion additional doses secured for booster shots within and beyond the EU. There is a need to overcome discrepancies in vaccination rates among member states (EU level – 70% of adults fully vaccinated, RO – 33%);
• building the European Health Union – a proposal to build the HERA (Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority) to be unveiled by the Commission & EUR 50 billion investments in health preparedness and resilience by 2027;

Digital Transformation – investing in digital skills and European tech industry

• digital spending in #NextGenerationEU is set to surpass the 20% target;
• investing in semi-conductors – proposal for a new European Chips Act in the pipeline, aimed to ensure security of supply & support the creation of a European chip ecosystem to coordinate EU and national investments along the value chain;
• European Cyber Defence Policy – aimed to support development of cyber defence tools, including a legislative proposal regarding a new European Cyber Resilience Act;
• recap of main proposals regarding the Digital Single Market (so far) – innovation, artificial intelligence, regulations on major digital platforms;

Green Transition – addressing climate change and delivering on the Green Deal

• legislative proposals – clean energy, smart and green mobility, fight pollution & other environmental challenges (details: Fit for 55 package, released July 2021);
• Social Climate Fund – to tackle energy poverty and ensure a fair green transition (details);

Social, Economic and Justice Agenda

• European Care Strategy – proposal to be developed;
• Education & Youth – a new Programme (ALMA) will support young people to gain temporary work experience in another state; 2022 to be declared the Year of European Youth;
• Fair Taxation – increased efforts to fight tax avoidance and evasion (initiative to address hiding profits behind shell entities & global deal on minimum corporate taxation);
• New Connectivity Strategy: Global Gateway – proposal to be presented, aimed to build partnerships with other countries for investments in infrastructure and connectivity;
• Rule of Law – from 2022, the Commission will issue annual rule of law reports including recommendations for each individual member state;

EU-US Partnership – to be focused on Climate and Economic Leadership

• prospects: a new Trade and Technology Council and strengthened cooperation in areas such as health & sustainability, further supported via enhanced EU-NATO collaboration.

In addition,

• the full statement is available here & factsheets on each dimension here;
• a recap of the 2020-2021 achievements is available here

The current material is part of the AmCham initiative to connect with the EU developments and bridge the national-EU policy agendas. Most of these priorities are already reflected in AmCham advocacy agenda and to learn more or to sign-up for one or more AmCham committees, please reach out to the AmCham advocacy team (coordinators mentioned under each committee) or contact us at amcham@amcham.ro.