The European Parliament has approved the new College of Commissioners that will take office on 1 December. In a vote that took place in Strasbourg, Members of the European Parliament gave their confidence to the new team presented by President von der Leyen.
In a speech to the Plenary of the European Parliament, President von der Leyen presented her team and laid out her vision for Europe in the next five years.
The President signalled freedom as the key driver of the EU: "Because fighting for freedom connects us as Europeans. Our past and our present. Our nations and our generations. For me, this is the raison d'être of our Union and it remains its driving force more than ever today."
She reminded the audience that freedom must be nurtured and protected, which means making choices. Those choices will be framed by the first major initiative that the new Commission will put forward: a Competitiveness Compass.
"The Compass will be built on the three pillars of the Draghi report. The first is closing the innovation gap with the US and China. The second is a joint plan for decarbonisation and competitiveness. And the third is increasing security and reducing dependencies," the President explained.
She insisted that the new Commission is eager and ready to work on day one and highlighted the experience and diversity of the new College Members, which includes former Prime Ministers and ministers, former mayors and local officials, CEOs, business owners, journalists, coming from farming and urban backgrounds, and belonging to different generations.
In a press conference after the vote with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, President von der Leyen thanked MEPs for the trust and expressed confidence on the cooperation between the two institutions in the coming years.
She also outlined the first months of her new mandate, with seven initiatives expected in the first 100 days, including a Clean Industrial Deal, a White Paper on European Defence, an AI Factories initiative, a Cybersecurity Action Plan for Health Infrastructure, a vision for Agriculture and Food, the enlargement policy reviews, and the Youth Policy Dialogues to be organised by each Commissioner in order to give a stronger voice to the next generation of Europeans.
The President ended by highlighting the importance of cooperation between the EU institutions: "Over the next five years, European unity will be absolutely critical. I cannot stress this enough (…) This is why we need the tightest cooperation between the Commission, the Parliament and the Council. It is the partnership that Europe needs—and deserves. My team and I are fully committed to this."
