“A New Compact for Clean Industry in the first 100 days”. This is one of the first promises that Ursula von der Leyen made to MEPs this Thursday morning in Strasbourg, before they granted her a second mandate at midday.
Following a secret ballot, the German leader obtained 401 votes of support out of 707 voters (284 against, 15 abstentions, 7 draws), well beyond the majority of 360 votes she needed. She received the green light from the Twenty-Seven at the end of June.
The new package of measures she is proposing must “direct investments towards infrastructure and industry, in particular energy-intensive sectors. This will make it possible to create pilot markets in all areas, from clean steel to clean technologies,” declared the President of the Commission in the Strasbourg hemicycle. One of the objectives is also to lower the price of energy, both for manufacturers and for individuals.
Ursula von der Leyen began her address with the subjects of competitiveness, which have reached the top of the European agenda as the symptoms of a decline in the Old Continent have multiplied. It is thus committed to reducing the administrative burden on businesses.
Administrative simplification
“I will ask each commissioner to analyze their portfolio in depth and actively participate in reducing the burden. And I will appoint a vice-president who will coordinate this work and who will present each year to this assembly a report on the progress accomplished,” announced the president of the executive.
Knowing that she could not afford to alienate the Greens to be re-elected, Ursula von der Leyen also gave pledges on the implementation of the Green Deal, this vast package of around sixty texts adopted in the previous mandate , which went too far for part of the European right.
“We will stay the course on our new growth strategy and on the objectives we have set for 2030 and 2050,” she assured. And, a key sentence for the Greens: “We will include our objective of reducing emissions by 90% by 2040 in our European climate law. » The new Commission should also include a position of Commissioner for Oceans and Fisheries.
Technological neutrality
To reassure the right and in particular her own family, the European People’s Party, she nevertheless clarified that she intended to meet the objectives of the Green Deal “in a pragmatic manner, respecting technological neutrality and demonstrating innovation”.
Behind the term “technological neutrality”, we can read a desire to leave the door open to synthetic fuels for thermal engines, to which certain German officials are very attached. Or to carve out a place for nuclear power in the energy mix. “We must move away from the opposition between nuclear and renewables,” assured a centrist MEP on Tuesday.
During her hour-long speech, as always in three languages (English, French, German), Ursula von der Leyen sent signals to many political groups and to certain governments. She thus mentioned the Versailles declaration dear to Emmanuel Macron on security and defense issues.
Defense Commissioner
Ursula von der Leyen has also confirmed the creation of a position of Defense Commissioner, without yet specifying its responsibilities or its means. She announced a portfolio responsible for the Mediterranean, so as to bring the north and south shores closer together. The president has further planned to triple the number of border and coast guards at the Frontex agency for the protection of external borders. And to double those of Europol, so as to strengthen efforts against organized crime.
Announcements which were likely to earn him at least a few votes from the group of sovereignists in Giorgia Meloni’s ECR group. ECR is not circumscribed within the sanitary cordon defined on Tuesday July 16 by the new European Parliament. This group dominated by the Fratelli d’Italia obtained two vice-presidencies of the assembly, unlike the “Patriots” coalition around the Hungarian Fidesz and the French RN. He indicated at midday that a “large majority” of his delegations would vote against Ursula von der Leyen. Which means some others would vote for her.
While the housing crisis, which affects almost all member states, was often mentioned in the European campaign, the President of the Commission promised to include this issue in a portfolio. Another portfolio will deal with the dimension of “intergenerational justice”. Referring to a “mental health crisis” among young Europeans, Ursula von der Leyen wants to launch a vast EU investigation into the effect of social networks.
Rule of law
The Commission president got the loudest applause when she harshly attacked Viktor Orban, the Hungarian Prime Minister, over his recent so-called “peace mission” that took him from Moscow to Beijing and then ‘in Florida where he met Donald Trump.
The vast majority of MEPs expect the president to maintain pressure on all member states which maintain a dangerous proximity to Moscow or abuse the rule of law. A report on the subject is due to be published next week.
This article is originally published on lesechos.fr
