Plenary in Strasbourg
(Strasbourg) Environmental transition and digitalisation – these are the two main themes highlighted by Ursula von der Leyen (pictured) in her keynote speech at the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg this morning. MEPs will vote on her Commission today after the debate. “Europe is not about regulations and markets. Europe is about people and their aspirations. It is about people standing together. For their liberty, for their values, simply for a better future”, the president-elect of the Commission said, amidst the clapping of a number of MEPs. She spoke of a deep “transformation” of society and the economy which Europe should embark on in the coming years: “It is not going to be easy”, she said, quoting from Vaclav Havel, but “it is the right thing to do”. “Our greatest achievements have always come when we are bold”, she went on to say, recalling the steps of Europe’s political integration: peace after World War II, the single market, the euro, and enlargement after the fall of the Berlin Wall. She recalled the struggles following the 2008 financial crisis and the fight to preserve “unity and solidarity” in the EU. At this point, she thanked her predecessor, Jean-Claude Juncker, “a great European”, for his work. She then called her team, who was given approval in the parliamentary hearings, an “exceptional College” (“only one woman away from gender balance”). “I am asking for your support for a new beginning for the European Union”.
