In the 2023 State of the Union address, European Parliament President Ursula von der Leyen focused on clean energy and the investigation into possible unfair competition from China.
“We have not forgotten how China’s unfair trade practices affected our solar industry. Many young businesses were pushed out by heavily subsidised Chinese competitors. Pioneering companies had to file for bankruptcy.
Promising talents went searching for fortune abroad. This is why fairness in the global economy is so important – because it affects lives and livelihoods. Entire industries and communities depend on it,” she underlined.
She spoke of the electric car market, saying that it is a crucial industry for the clean economy, with a huge potential for Europe.
“But global markets are now flooded with cheaper Chinese electric cars whose price is kept artificially low by huge state subsidies and this is distorting our market,” she explained.
She also referred to the upcoming European Parliament elections and she outlined the main priorities and flagship initiatives for the year to come, building on the European Union’s successes and achievements of the past years.
This is Ursula von der Leyen’s last address in this legislative mandate, ahead of the 2024 European elections.
The President of the European Parliament also spoke of the recent severe weather conditions that affected many countries.
“Greece and Spain were struck by ravaging wildfires and were hit again only a few weeks later by devastating floods, Ursula von der Leyen said.
“We saw the chaos and carnage of extreme weather – from Slovenia to Bulgaria and right across our Union,” she noted and referred to the European Green Deal.
“The European Green Deal,” she stated, “was born out of this necessity to protect our planet. But it was also designed as an opportunity to preserve our future prosperity.”
She also stressed that the EU has set a long-term perspective with the climate law and the 2050 target.
“We shifted the climate agenda to being an economic one, which has given a clear sense of direction for investment and innovation. We have already seen this growth strategy delivering in the short-term. Europe’s industry is showing every day that it is ready to power this transition. Proving that modernisation and decarbonisation can go hand in hand.”
The President of the European Commission also noted that in the last five years, the number of clean steel factories in the EU has grown from zero to 38.
