State of the EU: tech and defence challenges cloud COVID success

By Amelia Hadfield, Head of Department of Politics, University of Surrey

In her second “state of the European Union” speech, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen used the political momentum generated by a series of crises to announce a batch of new initiatives and funding.

Von der Leyen is confident she’s steered the EU successfully through the challenges of COVID, but the bloc still faces the threats of climate change, security and defence challenges, tech and economic competition, and political struggles among and within member states.

Missing was an honest acknowledgement of the ongoing, grievous rule of law infractions in Poland…

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