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EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gives her annual State of the Union address during a plenary session at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France, on September 13, 2023. (Photo by FREDERICK FLORIN / AFP)
In her annual State of the Union speech to the European Parliament, she said she was “convinced that agriculture and protection of the natural world can go hand in hand — we need both”.
She also railed against “heavily subsidised Chinese competitors” that were squeezing European companies in the clean-energy sector, emphasising that “fairness in the global economy is so important”.
In a fightback, she said Brussels would ensure a “fast-track” of permits for wind power installations.
And she said it would engage farmers in dialogue on the changes in store.
That responds to headwinds from her own conservative political family, the European People’s Party (EPP), which has sought to slow von der Leyen’s ambitious green transition goals.
The EPP, the biggest grouping in the European Parliament, says those ambitions unfairly burden farmers, who form a key constituency ahead of European elections next year.
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