On 18 July, Ursula von der Leyen appeared in front of the recently (re)elected members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in Strasburg to make her case for her re-election. After being nominated by European heads of state, von der Leyen had now to be confirmed by a majority vote in the Parliament.
In 2019, she was only able to clinch a very thin majority. Now, with the elections leading to an increase of far-right MEPs, many of whom have been critical of von der Leyen for having put too much emphasis on environmental legislation with the EU Green Deal, this vote was poised to be very close. However, in the end she managed to get a more comfortable majority than in 2019, thanks to, among others, Green MEPs voting in her favour. Indeed, ahead of the vote von der Leyen held talks and ran a campaign with the Parliament’s main political groups to get as many votes as possible. She took the time to reassure the Greens that the Green Deal would not be axed and of her commitment to the latter.
As part of her confirmation vote, von der Leyen presented her Political Guidelines for the coming term, a sort of political programme that will guide her actions and those of the coming Commission. This document also summarises the commitments and campaigning she had to do before the vote to get a majority.
Unsurprisingly, competitiveness, making business easier and cutting red tape were the top issues in her guidelines, as the largest group in Parliament are the conservative EPP (which is also her political group). But the elections yielded a rather split Parliament, meaning the guidelines have had to please and answer the very different concerns of the various Parliamentary groups.
To please left-wing lawmakers, the Guidelines also included a social component with emphasis on social rights and a new “Anti-Poverty Action Plan”. Particularly interesting to electrical contractors, she also announced an “Affordable Housing Action Plan”, which means the EU would tackle a new policy area with effect yet to be seen.
For the Greens, she pledged to keep the Green Deal legacy alive and promised a “Clean Industrial Deal” which should ensure that the EU can deliver on the legislation that has been adopted in the past five years. This new “Deal” will be key to actually implement and achieve the EU’s new energy and climate targets. EuropeOn will closely follow this initiative as was done with the Green Deal to ensure electrical contractors, essential to its implementation, are fully taken into account. She also confirmed she would work towards a 90% emission reduction target for 2040.
Ursula von der Leyen also made a cross party promise that can appeal to pro-business conservatives and liberals, to socially minded left wing, to the Greens and their climate action agenda, but most importantly to electrical contractors: “tackling the skills and labour gaps”. EuropeOn has been vocal about the need to address labour shortages as a top priority in policymaking, especially in relation to the increased energy targets, and we are pleased to see that this has materialised in the Political guidelines.
Skills and lifelong learning are highlighted in her Guidelines as crucial for the EU. For EuropeOn, the most prominent initiative that has been announced is the European Strategy for Vocational Education and Training (VET). EuropeOn has long advocated for VET to be specifically targeted in policymaking. Hopefully, this VET Strategy will be well integrated with another promise that caught our eye: “boost and refocus skills funding in the EU budget to ensure it is better linked to labour markets and more focused on sectors crucial for the twin transitions”.
Now that she has been confirmed as the next Commission President, Member States will have to nominate candidates to become Commissioner, which will undergo Parliament scrutiny in September or October. Once the new College of Commissioners has been confirmed as well, the work on these promises can start. Stay tuned!
