STRASBOURG –A majority of members of the European Parliament voted today in favour of the second European Commission headed by Ursula von der Leyen. During the plenary session in Strasbourg, the new College of Commissioners was backed by 370 votes in an open ballot, whereas 282 members of the EP voted against it, and 36 abstained from the voting. A total of 688 MEPs voted. The new Commission should start its mandate on 1 December, after its formal appointment by the European Council via a qualified majority.
European Parliament’s committees subjected each Commissioner-designate to individual public hearings between 4 and 12 November. MEPs assessed their suitability to become Commissioners, as well as their ability to carry out the duties linked to their respective portfolios.
“We’ve seen the commitment of the Western Balkans to reform, to grow, and to get ready to join the EU”
Ahead of today’s vote, Ursula von der Leyen presented her team of Commissioners to the European Parliament and the programme of the incoming EC. Speaking about the enlargement of the EU, she noted that the “dream of Europe extends to the Western Balkans, to Ukraine, to Moldova, and beyond”.
“We’ve seen the bravery of the people of Ukraine in pursuing the European journey, the resilience of the people of Moldova to stick to the European future… We’ve seen the commitment of the Western Balkans to reform, to grow, and to get ready to join the EU”, Ursula von der Leyen underlined.
She added that Russia was trying to prevent these countries from “having the European future, but Europe’s commitment to these countries will always be stronger”.
“There is no doubt – we want Ukraine as a part of our EU, and we will stand by Ukraine as long as it takes… Also, we will support all of these countries, every step on the way, in the merit-based process, till they are ready to join our Union”, Von der Leyen said.
According to the President of the European Commission, Marta Kos “is the right person” for the enlargement portfolio.
“We have the vision of the continent united by the rule of law. The respect for fundamental rights will always drive our work because the people of these countries deserve the future of peace, progress and prosperity, and we will make sure that their future can be in Europe “, she stressed.
The EU must strengthen its defence and security
In addition, Ursula von der Leyen noted that the EU had “no time to waste” to strengthen its defence and security, as well as to increase its competitiveness.
“The war is raging at the EU’s borders… We need a common European project on security. We have no time to waste, we must be as ambitious as the threats are serious… Our spending on defence must increase”, she said, clarifying that the Commission would come up with the “White Paper” on the future of the EU defence within the first one hundred days of this mandate.
In her opinion, there was “something wrong” when Russia was spending up to 9 per cent of GDP on defence, while the EU spent only 1.9 per cent of DGP for the same purposes.
Referring to the priorities of the new Commission, Ursula von der Leyen said that the so-called “Competitiveness compass” will be established, based on the recent Mario Draghi report on the future of European competitiveness.
“The compass will be based on three pillars – closing the innovation gap with the US and China, a joint plan on decarbonization and competitiveness, and the plan to re-enforce our economic security”, she underlined.
The “clean industrial deal” would be revealed
Furthermore, she announced that that the “clean industrial deal” would be revealed within the first one hundred days of the mandate.
“The demand for the raw materials has doubled during the previous mandate and will triple during the next one…. We need free and fair trade to secure the materials”, Ursula von der Leyen concluded.
In the discussion that followed Von Der Leyen’s speech, some members of the European Parliament expressed the need for the better protection of the values of democracy, rule of law and equality in the European Union, stressing that the “far-right politicians”, such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán “want to dismantle the European project”. Also, there were claims that the EC would be right-leaning, given the political affiliations of some of the new Commissioners.