CoR Plenary (June 2022)

This EPRS paper analyses progress in attaining the policy agenda set out by Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, and her College of Commissioners when they took office in December 2019. It looks in particular at the state of play in respect of delivery on the six key priorities asserted at that time. Concretely, EPRS finds that, following the March 2022 EP plenary sessions and European Council meeting, of the over 500 initiatives foreshadowed by the von der Leyen Commission on taking office or since (504), more than half have already been submitted (288). Of these, almost half have already been adopted (135), while the great majority of the remainder are either proceeding normally through the legislative process (113) or are close to adoption (11). Conversely, a certain number are proceeding very slowly or are currently blocked (29).

The coronavirus crisis has demonstrated not only that the European Union faces a variety of risks, and that those disparate risks are inter-linked, but that the response to such challenges to the Union - even in areas in which the EU does not have explicit competence - is stronger with the Union and its Member States acting together. Russia's war on Ukraine, which was launched while this study was being drafted, shows us not just the added value of concerted action by the Union but also the ability of EU institutions and Member States to find new and effective solutions to deal with major shocks. This paper, the first in an annual series, seeks to assess the risks to, and capabilities and resilience of, the EU system. Building on a review of global risks, it considers in detail specific risks with the potential to harm Europe and its people. It then sets out options for policy responses which can ensure Europe is more able to address the dangers of such risks and minimise the potential damage. Among the options set out are those previously included in European Parliament resolutions, in positions from other EU institutions, and in policy papers from think tanks and stakeholders.

The 2023 EU budget will be the third under the multiannual financial framework (MFF) for 2021 to 2027. It is also the last year of the EU recovery instrument (Next Generation EU), which is planned to run from 2021 to 2023. The European Parliament contributes to the preparation of proposals for the forthcoming year's budget for the European Union through the adoption of its 'guidelines'. The draft guidelines, as adopted by the Committee on Budgets on 16 March 2022, outline Parliament's goals for the Union's 2023 budget, with the overarching priority of recovering from the coronavirus crisis and facing geopolitical challenges. Parliament is expected to adopt its guidelines during the April plenary session, ahead of the Commission's adoption of its proposal of the draft 2023 budget, scheduled for early June.

Every year, the Commission adopts its annual work programme setting out the list of the most important actions it will take in the year ahead. The work programme informs the public and the other institutions of our political commitments to present new initiatives, withdraw pending proposals and review existing EU legislation. The work programme contains new policy and legislative initiatives across all six headline ambitions of President von der Leyen's Political Guidelines and sets out in more detail in what way the initiatives outlined in her annual State of the European Union address will be delivered.

"For the generation of my children, Europe is a unique aspiration. It is an aspiration of living in a natural and healthy continent. Of living in a society where you can be who you are, live where you like, love who you want and aim as high as you want. It is an aspiration of a world full of new technologies and age-old values. Of a Europe that takes the global lead on the major challenges of our times."
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission