Ursula von der Leyen is about to ship her State of the Union speech on Wednesday morning earlier than a full home of the European Parliament.
What is the story behind this keynote speech?
The State of the Union (SOTU), or the State of the European Union, is an annual handle utilized by the president of the European Fee to current the principle political priorities, goals and initiatives of the subsequent legislative 12 months.
Because of this, it takes place in mid-September, after MEPs come again from their summer time recess.
Within the wide-ranging speech, which lasts between 40 minutes and one hour, the Fee chief additionally displays upon the best achievements and – throughout the cautious limits of institutional self-criticism – the errors remodeled the previous 12 months.
The textual content is often peppered with doses of political philosophy: presidents overtly muse in regards to the European Union’s raison d’être and unwritten future, whereas rallying their viewers to work collectively for the sake of our collective prosperity.
This 12 months’s SOTU is poised to be history-making: Ursula von der Leyen will grow to be the primary Fee president to ship the handle with a full-scale conflict raging in Europe.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the worsening power disaster are anticipated to function excessive on von der Leyen’s agenda, giving the special day a markedly darkish undertone.
Watch the video above to find the story behind the State of the Union.
