Following a debate with Ursula von der Leyen on her new team and programme, MEPs elected the College of Commissioners, including the Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation, by roll-call vote.
The College of Commissioners is expected to take office on 1 December.
370 MEPs voted in favour, 282 against, and 36 abstained. Details on how each MEP voted will be available shortly on Parliament’s dedicated webpage and in the plenary session’s minutes. The College of Commissioners needed a majority of the votes cast to be confirmed.
This will be Ursula von der Leyen’s second term as Commission President following her election in 2019.
EU policy priorities
President von der Leyen announced that the Commission’s first initiative will be a competitiveness compass to close Europe’s innovation gap with the US and China, increase security and independence, and deliver on decarbonisation.
On the European Green Deal, she assured MEPs that the EU would stay on course with its goals. She committed to presenting a clean industrial deal, launching a strategic dialogue on the future of Europe’s car industry, continuing to work on a competitive circular economy, and working towards a European savings and investment union.
President von der Leyen also stressed the crucial importance of strengthening European security, calling for Europe to spend more on defence.
What to expect from the EU’s Startups, Research and Innovation portfolio
Earlier in November, Commissioner Zaharieva appeared for her confirmation hearing before the Committees on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) and Culture and Education (CULT). UKRO has published an analysis of her confirmation hearing with MEPs, which can be accessed via the UKRO portal.
UKRO has also published an analysis of Zaharieva’s mission letter, which President von der Leyen addressed to her earlier in the year. The letter restates the principles outlined in von der Leyen’s political guidelines (PDF, 8.1 MB) and illustrates Zaharieva’s mission as Commissioner.
Commissioner Zaharieva will work under the guidance of the Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and the Industrial Strategy. She will also work under the guidance of the Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy on matters related to tech sovereignty.
This reflects the importance the second von der Leyen Commission is giving to competitiveness and security. UKRO’s analysis of von der Leyen’s political priorities explains how this will impact EU policy in the coming years.