State of the European Union: Cut the sweet talk

State of the European Union: Cut the sweet talk
Can't anybody see me? (Photo: EP)

LinkedIn blog post, 20/08/2025, by Sven Franck (en français , in Deutsch)

Everything has been said about the White House summit but with the unknown half-life of Trump dealing, we might as well look ahead to September and the upcoming #SOTEU - the annual State of the European Union address. If one thing is clear after the NATO summit, the US-EU trade deal and last weekend, it's that the EU has some serious introspection to do, and ideally announce some equally serious reforming.

The show must NOT go on

I'm actually weary of another, pardon the sarcasm, SOTEU of huff and puff marketing fluff with tremendous billions of Euros. I want some honesty: the shit hit the fan. And Europe wasn't ready. Because for a few decades, no national government wanted to hand more power to the European Union. Nobody talks federalism. Nobody talks subsidiarity. Unanimity meant "why bother" and everybody kicked the can down the road. A road which we suddenly have run out of. Can I kick it? No you can't.

The EU Commission played along because its president was installed by the Council instead of coming out of the Parliament. A Commission President by virtue of member states will never stand up to challenge their role and question the dismal state of the European Union. She remains a sort-of marionette on 27 strings to administer the status quo with layers of bureaucracy.

"Administer" is actually one of my principal issues. You're the "president" of the European Union. The world is on fire. Your pants are starting to burn and you deliver a SOTEU speech on upcoming regulation, vague promises and that next year will be the year of whatever... fishery. You can name any topic: Ukraine, defence, foreign policy, enlargement, unanimity. We're at a point where we need to seriously talk treaty reforms. Not fish.

Please, for once on prime time television

Building momentum for treaty reforms needs a big stage. I've been ranting for years that presidents address citizens after the evening news. Except the European Commission president who speaks at 9am. Why? Nobody watches. Nobody cares.

Imagine Ursula von der Leyen at 20h00 on TV across Europe. Not to announce the year of fish, but that the EU badly needs reforms and that on the way back from Washington, she convinced the coalition of the willing to also be "willing" in this regard. Back in Brussels, she climbed the Berlaymont attic and dug out the #COFE report (Conference on the future of Europe - in case you forgot) buried under a pile of Draghi reports. She announces treaty reforms and with both Parliament and the Council she will spend the coming year on drafting how the EU can become a geopolitical actor - more independent from other blocks and from national governments while working to convince all member states and preparing a Plan B.

This is what we all should expect from a SOTEU speech and a European president. We're working on it at #jumpstartEU.