State of the Union 2013: Wrap-up

The 'State of the Union' speech, largely modelled on the US president's annual address to Congress, is a recent initiative by Commission President José Manuel Barroso. The first such speech was delivered in 2010 in a chaotic atmosphere, after suggestions that MEPs be forced to attend.

The main focus of the 2011 State of the Union's speech was the need to raise new sources of finance, including "project bonds", to fund EU infrastructure.

In the 2012 address Barroso passionately pleaded for launching a wide-ranging public debate for a major transformation of the European Union into a "federation of nation states".