The new Commission’s work programme will be based largely on the report on the future of European competitiveness, prepared for the Commission by former European Central Bank President and former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, which was presented to the public in September
As expected, but not very well, the European Parliament (EP) confirmed the new European Commission (EC), which will be led by Ursula von der Leyen for another five-year term. Of the 688 MEPs who joined the vote, 370 voted for the European Commission, 282 were against, while 36 abstained.
The “Von der Leyen 2” European Commission received fewer votes from representatives than she personally did in the summer when she was elected European Commission President. She then received 401 votes. Unlike Von der Leyen’s first term, the new Commission received almost a hundred fewer votes. Five years ago, 461 MEPs voted for the Commission, 157 against and 89 abstained.
OBJECTIONS
Interestingly, this majority was not achieved because of the agreement of the three pro-European groups last week, but because many representatives from groups that were not included in that agreement, notably the Conservatives and the Greens, also voted for the EC. The vote was preceded by a debate after Von der Leyen presented the European Commission. During the debate, many MEPs called the whole process of confirming the EC a farce, because support is given by trade outside the European Parliament and not by the quality of the candidates.
But in the end, the majority voted again. This is the first time in 25 years that the European Parliament has not rejected a single candidate for EC member. This vote enabled the start of the new five-year mandate of the European Commission on Sunday, December 1. On the same day, the mandate of the new President of the European Council, António Costa, begins, succeeding Charles Michel in this role.
SECOND TERM
Von der Leyen announced that in her second term at the head of the European Commission, her priority will be to increase security, decarbonisation and continue the implementation of the European Green Deal. She committed to presenting a deal for a clean industry, to launch a strategic dialogue on the future of the European automotive industry, to continue working towards a competitive circular economy and to achieve a union of savings and investments.
The Commission’s first initiative will be the so-called competitiveness compass to overcome Europe’s innovation gap in relation to the US and China. Von der Leyen said that the new EC will advocate for enlargement, that Ukraine and other candidates, including those from the Western Balkans, have a place in the European Union.
DEFENSE SPENDING
She announced continued aid to Ukraine, as well as investments in strengthening defense. She said that Russia invests 9 percent of its GDP in defense, while the EU average is only 1.9 percent. “We need to increase our defense spending, we need a single market for defense and we need to strengthen our defense industrial base,” she said. She announced that in the first 100 days she would present a so-called White Paper on the future of European defense. A White Paper is a type of European Commission document that contains proposals for future activities in a particular area.
DRAGHI’S PLAN
The new Commission’s work program will be based largely on the report on the future of European competitiveness, prepared for the Commission by former European Central Bank President and former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, which was presented to the public in September.
As the first major initiative of the new Commission, von der Leyen announced a competitiveness compass that will be based on the three pillars of the Draghi report: closing the innovation gap with the US and China – decarbonisation and competitiveness, increasing security and reducing dependency. She stressed that the competitiveness compass will be the framework for the new Commission’s work until the end of its mandate. Speaking about the innovation gap, von der Leyen said that the EU is on the same level as the US and China.
