On 13 September 2023, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, delivered her 2023 State of the European Union address before the Members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, and presented the Commission’s policy priorities for the coming and last year of her mandate. 

In the context of the future European elections, Ursula von der Leyen introduced her speech by talking about young European citizens and the vision for a better European future. In this sense, Ursula von der Leyen highlighted her desire to pursue her programme for a greener, digital, and geopolitical Europe, despite the pandemic and Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. 

During her speech, Ursula von der Leyen namely reminded the progress made in healthcare by contributing to the vaccination of a large part of the world following COVID-19 and on gender equality, the advancement on investment and innovation with the European Green Deal to fight climate change, the major economic challenges with labour shortages, inflation, and business environment, and the importance of the digital aspect with the development of artificial intelligence.

Finally, the President pointed out the challenges of global context, migration and security, such as the agreements between Member States on migration, the investments on emerging economies with the Global Gateway strategy, and the enlargement of the Schengen area with Bulgaria and Romania.

In her concluding words, Ursula von der Leyen looked back on the damage done by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and reaffirmed the continued support of the European Union to Ukraine. 

Ursula von der Leyen’s address was followed by speeches and discussions with Members of the European Parliament. 

This video shows the entire statement given by Martin Schirdewan, Co-Chair of the Left group (GUE-NGL) of the European Parliament.