Ursula von der Leyen has secured European Parliament backing for her new team at the European Commission, paving the way for them to take office at the start of next month.
A majority of lawmakers at the European Parliament endorsed the new Commission, headed by von der Leyen for a second term.
#europe #europeanunion #europeancommission #vonderleyen
A majority of lawmakers at the European Parliament endorsed the new Commission, headed by von der Leyen for a second term.
#europe #europeanunion #europeancommission #vonderleyen
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Well Janie, there have been weeks of delays and plenty of political wranglings
00:05but essentially Ursula von der Leyen has got her team in place for the next five
00:10years. The Commission can begin its work in earnest starting from next week. She
00:17has described this as a good day for Europe but essentially the vote was the
00:23smallest margin ever in the EU's history. 370 voting in favour of this
00:29new College of Commissioners, 282 against, 36 abstaining which just shows how
00:35fractious the European political landscape is. We need to cast our minds
00:41back to June and the European elections to really get a sense of why it is so
00:45fractious. We saw the EPP, Ursula von der Leyen's centre-right party grow in
00:50stature, remaining the king makers here in Brussels and throughout the European
00:56Union but her traditional centrist allies Renew and SND, the Socialists and
01:02Democrats, have gotten weaker. We've seen a rise in more right-leaning groups as
01:06well. We've seen that very much play out in why this was such a fractious debate
01:11and why there's so much unease with this new-look Commission. As far as the left
01:17and centrists are concerned, they're unhappy especially with the picks from
01:20Italy and Hungary and their choices to be in the next Commission. As far as the
01:25right is concerned, well we've heard from the head of the Patriots for Europe party
01:29that say this is essentially a continuation of the centrist coalition
01:33that ruled for the last five years. They said that in June there was a call from
01:39the electorate across Europe for a move to the right and says that with this
01:42Commission essentially the wishes of the people are not being seen through.
01:47What do you think her team's priority will be? Well one key message we've heard
01:55from von der Leyen speaking to parliamentarians and the press is that
01:59of unity. She says that we need to invest in prosperity and in security, of course
02:05with the fact that a war is raging on Europe's doorstep and the prospect of a
02:09more isolationist president when Donald Trump becomes the US Commander-in-Chief
02:14come January. So that is a huge focus and will really shape the EU for
02:20most of the next five years of this legislative session as far as the EU is
02:25concerned. The other issue that you rightly mentioned Jamie is that of
02:28competitiveness. This will be absolutely central considering the fact that much
02:33of Europe's economies really have been spluttering. Some describe it as Europe
02:37is walking while the US is running for example. That is why Ursula von der Leyen
02:41says some of those priorities will be innovation, decarbonisation and security.
02:46She says that her team can now get to work.