In a speech, which she delivered strategically in three languages English, French, German, von der Leyen reserved something for all the Eurogroups on the basis of her new plan, the political directions she will follow in the coming five years, which she had earlier sent to all Eurogroups. Her speech is a “key” in the vote for the renewal of her mandate which will take place at 2:00 PM (Greece time).
In essence, he promised a new “European Prosperity Plan” in the event that he remains president of the Commission, committed to reducing the bureaucratic and administrative burden, emphasizing investments in innovation and technology so that the EU regains its competitiveness and does not remain ” tail’ once morest its main economic rivals, the US and China.
Of particular interest are the proposals for the creation of new Commissioner positions in her college, one to deal with the housing problem (directly requested by the Socialists), defense (which will work with the new head of European diplomacy Kaya Kalas), and one of of the Mediterranean region with the aim of strengthening neighborhood relations with countries in the region but also with the ultimate goal of addressing the immigration issue.
Both in her nearly hour-long speech and in her 31-page text on the political guidelines of the new Commission, Ursula von der Leyen emphasized “investments”, mentioning it 49 times, which certainly satisfied the Eurogroups of the European People’s Party (EPP). , the Liberals (Renew) and even the Conservatives and Reformers (ECR) as it is their constant request to emphasize the further unification of the capital markets, the reduction of the bureaucratic burden for businesses, the release of private funds for investments in the defense sector, green and digital transition. In this context, von der Leyen promised the creation of a “special competitiveness fund”, a proposal that will satisfy the French as well as the Eurogroup of Liberals and her party, EPP.
Ursula von der Leyen, however, made special reference in her speech to the proposal submitted by Greece and Poland for the creation of a common air defense shield, she admitted, however, that NATO will remain the defense “pillar” of the EU, but with Europe to take separate initiatives on defense spending.
He also made special reference to dealing with climate change. To the credit of the Greens – who are vacillating as to whether they will support her – she promised a new plan to deal with the climate crisis with an emphasis on the implementation of the already agreed laws and the signing of a new Clean Industry Pact.
Addressing the plenary session – not by chance – in German, the candidate president of the Commission emphasized at the same time the need to ensure a “fair income” for farmers, pointing out that “no one can be forced to sell below the cost of production”. “We should strengthen the position of farmers” he pointed out to add that “they need access to more funds” while promising to promote dialogue between farmers and environmental organizations.
With regard to immigration and with an eye mainly to the Eurogroup of the ECR of Georgia Meloni and also of the EPP, he said that he would propose an increase in the number of Frontex border guards to 30,000. “We will promote a new common approach to returns, with a new legislative framework” he added regarding the issue of migrant returns, also a key demand of the leaders of the EPP and many EU countries.
Of special interest was the reference to the need to “change the conditions” as this is a constant request of several Eurogroups in the parliament. Ursula von der Leyen stressed that “we need a change of circumstances” to improve the EU, institutions and use the momentum “as a catalyst to change our capacity to act, our policies and our budget”, while pledging for greater cooperation between the Commission and the European Parliament.
He received the loudest applause from almost all wings of the semicircle – apart from the far-right Eurogroups – when he condemned Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s visit to Moscow, calling his “peace mission” a “mission of appeasement.” He did not name Orban personally but said that “Europe will stand by Ukraine as long as it takes.”
“It is important in difficult times to have stability” said the prime minister regarding the candidacy of Ursula von der Leyen from Oxfordshire, United Kingdom Kyriakos Mitsotakis upon his arrival at the 4th Summit of the European Political Community. In particular, Mr. Mitotakis said “allow me to express my satisfaction because we are in the magical location and it is the first international Summit organized by the new Prime Minister of Great Britain. “I would like to wish him all the best in his new role and hope that he will work towards a constructive relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union.
“We are meeting here today and at the same time a very important vote is taking place in Strasbourg and I really hope that Mrs. Ursula von der Leyen will be re-elected as president of the European Commission. I think it is very important in these difficult times to have continuity, stability and experience[…]
On paper, von der Leyen has the numbers, as the three groups that officially backed her in 2019 – the centre-right European People’s Party, the Socialists and Democrats and the centrist Renew – have 401 MEPs.
However, the European Parliament groups are not very disciplined and experts expect that around 10-15% of MEPs will deviate from the party line under the cover of the secret ballot. She cannot even count on the unanimous support of her own EPP group.
The Renew group might be particularly difficult for von der Leyen – the four Fianna Fáil members said they would not vote for her, arguing that she supported Israel too much in the war once morest Hamas in Gaza. Billy Kelleher, vice-president of Renew, said that under her watch the EU ceased to be “regarded as an honest broker in the Middle East peace process”.
Talks within the groups continued until Wednesday followingnoon. She will present her program for the next five years in a speech to the Strasbourg assembly at 9am local time on Thursday.
This programme, the Guardian reports, is likely to focus on boosting the EU’s competitiveness amid concerns – especially from its own EPP group – that Europe’s economic weight is waning once morest the US and China. He is also expected to promise to keep the Green Deal going and to present ideas for financing the green transition needed to tackle the climate crisis.
Other issues likely to be high on her agenda are Ukraine’s EU membership and the hybrid threat from Russia, including Moscow’s suspected role in using the threat of migration to weaken and pressure the EU.
Von der Leyen may strike a more muted note when it comes to protecting Europe’s critically degraded forests, grasslands, peatlands and seas. He previously scrapped plans to reduce pesticide use and lowered pollution targets in the face of major farmer protests and faces calls from the right to weaken environmental laws.
The Greens, with 53 MEPs, tend to be more disciplined than other groups, but insisted they would not decide how they would vote until von der Leyen appeared on the floor of the Strasbourg assembly on Thursday morning.
Some EU sources have suggested the secret ballot might work in von der Leyen’s favour, allowing MEPs to criticize her loudly and discreetly vote yes to avoid an institutional crisis.
A wild card, however, is Giorgia Meloni’s European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group. At the European Council, the Italian prime minister abstained from re-appointing von der Leyen, furious that she was excluded from a top jobs deal hammered out between six male leaders from three main political groups.
But since Meloni took office, she has had a fruitful relationship with von der Leyen’s commission, which has released funds under a €194bn post-Covid recovery plan for Italy and followed Rome’s lead in deal-making with African countries that aimed to limit the number of people crossing the Mediterranean to reach Europe.
The ECR’s 78 MEPs are likely to be split, with Poland’s Law and Justice party voting once morest von der Leyen and the People’s Democratic Party, led by Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, supporting her. After a recent meeting with von der Leyen, the ECR team tweeted that the next commission “needs a serious change of course”.
The leader of the Socialists and Democrats, Iratxe García Pérez, told Spain’s El Diaro that her group would not give von der Leyen a “blank cheque” and would not base its decision on other groups.
David McAllister, a senior EPP MEP and close ally of von der Leyen, said there would be no second chance if she failed on Thursday.
“This means that throughout the summer the European Union would be in an institutional crisis because the whole package agreed between the political groups following the election would be at risk,” he said, referring to the complex deal for three top jobs. which takes into account geography and political ties. “We would not have clear leadership at the helm of the commission,” he added.
“The enemies, the opponents of a united Europe would laugh.”
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Mr. Mitsotakis is participating in the European Political Community Summit in Oxford today
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