Strasbourg, France, Sept. 9, 2025 (Lusa) - The president of the European Parliament asked the leader of the European Commission on Tuesday for simpler rules, measures for housing and security and "honesty" instead of a "Christmas list" in Wednesday's State of the Union speech.
"I will take inspiration from what the leaders of the groups asked the Commission President [Ursula von der Leyen] last week, which is not to make a State of the Union like every year," said the leader of the European assembly, Roberta Metsola, in an interview with Lusa and other European agencies as part of the European Newsroom project, on the sidelines of the plenary session in the French city of Strasbourg.
The day before her usual annual speech, Roberta Metsola asked: "This year it's not just about being accountable and presenting a big Christmas wish list, but there must be an understanding that the world is very demanding".
"And if we, in our case as elected representatives, are not going to answer the very clear and basic questions that our citizens asked us last year when they voted for us, then what are we doing?" she asked, in an allusion to the European Parliament, the only elected European institution.
According to Roberta Metsola, European citizens want simpler rules, they want to have a home, they want security and they want honesty, in the face of current challenges such as the housing crisis in the EU, geopolitical instability due to the war in Ukraine and criticism of the lack of transparency in the European institutions.
"That's what they [the citizens] are looking for in all areas, whether it's the tariff and trade agreement with the United States or Mercosur, whether it's finally moving forward with legislative initiatives that have been blocked for more than a decade, such as the one on [migrant] returns, or working on proposals that we've been asking for and that are finally in this house, such as the list of safe countries of origin," she said.
In addition, Roberta Metsola asked Ursula von der Leyen to ensure that the EU "not give up or renounce its climate ambitions", following recent setbacks in proposals.
"I want to say it because we don't say it enough and it's almost as if we're doing one without the other," she said.
Ursula von der Leyen (centre-right) began her second term as head of the EU government last December, and on Wednesday, she will deliver her first State of the Union speech of the new legislature, the fifth of her European career.
The German leader will have to defend herself against the criticism she has received, mainly over the tariff agreement with the United States, which is seen as damaging, her moral position on Gaza, and the controversial expansion of her powers in the international diplomatic sphere.
In an interview with Lusa and other European agencies, Metsola also stated that there is an "enormous expectation of what will be said by Von der Leyen, and that the speech should devote "an important part" to the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
After Ursula von der Leyen “survived” a motion of censure in the European Parliament for lack of transfer during the process of acquiring vaccines for Covid-19, the leader of the European assembly defended the "stability and predictability" of the institutions, but acknowledged that "answers have to be given" to MEPs' questions.
Roberta Metsola also emphasised "the predictability" brought by the EU-US trade agreement, while acknowledging that one can "discuss how it was negotiated and whether the result is perfect".
ANE/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
