Sunday

3rd Dec 2023

Infographic

What Juncker said. A look at numbers.

  • (Photo: European Parliament)

It has become a tradition in the EU, inspired by the US president's annual address to Congress. On Wednesday morning (12 September), the European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker delivered the State of the European Union speech, also known as SOTEU, at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

It was the fourth, and probably the last, time that Juncker addressed the MEPs. In May next year, a new parliament will be elected and in September it is expected to be busy with approving the new college of commissioners appointed by member states.

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This year's SOTEU was therefore special, and for Juncker an opportunity to review his achievements and set out a vision for the EU he will leave behind at the end of his term.

Amid renewed concerns over the rise of far-right and anti-EU forces in Europe, Juncker's speech was meant to be a political answer to citizens' concerns and his institution's positions on issues debated by EU leaders - on migration, the economy or social policies, as well as on the place of the bloc in the world.

What did Juncker say, and what did he emphasise? As last year, we looked at the words he chose, and which ones he used the most.

1 – The words used by Juncker in his SOTEU speech

2 – The twenty most used words in Juncker's speech

3 – The ten most frequently used words in each of Juncker's SOTEU

4 – The words used in each Juncker's SOTEU

5 – The words used by Juncker and Barroso in SOTEU speeches

6 – Number of words for each SOTEU

Author bio

The European Data Journalism Network (EDJNet) is a platform for data-driven news on European affairs brought to you in up to 12 languages by a consortium of media and data journalists from all over Europe, which includes EUobserver.

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