European Commission president is re-elected, promising investment in clean industry and “stronger Erasmus+”
Ursula von der Leyen has been approved for a second term as president of the European Commission, having promised to prioritise competitiveness and environmental sustainability.
Following a statement and a lively debate in the European Parliament, the German former defence minister was re-elected in a vote on 18 July by a majority of 401 MEPs out of 719.
She will now serve a second five-year term, after a first in which she helped steer the EU through the Covid-19 pandemic as well as the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its associated energy crisis.
Focus on prosperity
“Our first priority will be prosperity and competitiveness,” von der Leyen said in her Parliament statement, in which she emphasised the links between competitiveness and the environment.
EU competitiveness “needs a major boost”, she said, including to make it “faster and easier” for companies to do business. “We need less reporting, less bureaucracy and more trust, better enforcement and faster permitting.”
In this vein, von der Leyen said she would ask each of the 26 political commissioners she will oversee to examine their portfolios and find ways to reduce red tape, with a vice-president coordinating the work.
In addition, “a revamped competitiveness check” will help reduce the burden of legislation, in particualr for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Von der Leyen also stressed the importance of investment, mentioning it more than a dozen times in her statement.
“Europe needs more investment, from farming to industry, from digital to strategic technologies, but also more investment in people and their skills,” she said.
In the first 100 days of her second term, she plans to propose a Clean Industrial Deal to “channel investment in infrastructure and industry, in particular for energy-intensive sectors” such as steelmaking.
The Commission will also propose a European Savings and Investments Union to facilitate the savings of European citizens being used to invest in European companies. Von der Leyen said Europe needs to stop such savings flowing to foreign investment markets and being used to lure innovative European companies abroad.
Europe needs “a deep and liquid capital market” and “a competition policy that supports companies to scale up”, she said.
Von der Leyen also proposed the creation of a European Competitiveness Fund to “drive competitiveness and innovation”, including by supporting the Clean Industrial Deal. It would use EU funding to leverage more public and private backing for cross-border European projects.
The fund “will ensure that we develop strategic tech and manufacture it here in Europe…[because] from artificial intelligence to clean tech, the future of our prosperity must be made in Europe”, she said.
Other policies
Although her statement was light on specific initiatives of direct impact on academia, von der Leyen did cite a need for a “stronger Erasmus+”, referring to the EU’s academic exchange programme.
She also stressed the need for work on enlarging the EU through the accession of new member countries, naming the Western Balkans, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia specifically.
“We will support candidates by working on investment and reforms, and integrating them where we can into our legal frameworks,” she said, but sought to reassure doubters by adding: “Accession will always be a merit-based process. And we will ensure that all countries are ready before joining.”
Seeming relaxed and confident, von der Leyen touched on topics that she knew from prior meetings were important to the Parliament’s many and varied political groups. In addition to competitiveness—a focus of her own European People’s Party—she covered poverty and social fairness, in an attempt to woo members of the Socialists and Democrats, which is the second-largest group after her own.
She also promised the S&Ds a commissioner for housing, while acknowledging that this was not traditionally an area of EU policy.
To avoid losing the support of the Greens, she promised to “stick to the targets” of the Green Deal environmental policy package, while, in a bid to win over some right-wing MEPs, she stressed the importance of secure borders.
A call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza failed to secure the vocal support of the leader of The Left when group leaders responded to her statement, but despite this, and an interruption from an MEP who was forcibly removed from the session, von der Leyen did enough to secure majority support.
Initial reaction and next steps
Iliana Ivanova, the current research, innovation and education commissioner, who is also from the EPP, congratulated von der Leyen on her reappointment. “Your continued leadership and vision are vital for Europe’s future,” Ivanova said on social media.
In initial reaction from the research and higher education sector, Kurt Deketelaere, secretary-general of the League of European Research Universities, said von der Leyen was “not perfect, but she is damn good”, and pledged his “full support”.
Jan Palmowski, from the Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities, said: “For a strong functioning EU in a turbulent world, there was no alternative. This is good news also for research, innovation and higher education: von der Leyen is clear that EU strength must build on its scientific and innovative capacity, and on the drive of our students!”
Thomas Jørgensen, director of policy coordination and foresight at the European University Association, said that von der Leyen gave a “strong performance” in the session but that there would be “not a few points and questions for #universities in the small print”.
Next, those EU member states that have not yet done so will nominate their commissioners, who will be assigned portfolios by von der Leyen.
Bulgaria has yet to say who its nominee will be, meaning that it remains to be seen whether the country’s current commissioner, Ivanova, will return for a second term. Even if she does, she may not be given the same portfolio.
The prospective commissioners will next be questioned by the Parliament to gauge their qualifications for their roles and any conflicts of interest. The Parliament will then vote on the college of commissioners as a whole, accepting or rejecting them en masse.
Update 18/7 – This article was updated with more reaction from the sector and with the vote count
