Statement by President-elect Ursula von der Leyen

Source: European Commission (EC)1, published on Thursday, October 10 2019.

We are currently in a democratic and transparent parliamentary process. I have proposed 26 candidates, 23 of whom have now been accepted. Three candidates did not obtain majority support for varied reasons. Therefore, the nominations for Hungary, Romania and France are still open.

This afternoon I met the Presidents of the EPP,2 S&D and3 Renew Europe4 groups in the European Parliament5 to discuss the situation. I also met with the President of the European Parliament.

We must not lose sight of what is at stake: the next five years will be decisive for Europe in a difficult global environment. Europe must deal with Brexit, trade issues and conflicts in its immediate neighbourhood. We must also face up to major challenges such as climate change, digitisation and migratory flows.

With so much at stake, it is now necessary, together with Parliament, to speed up the process so that Europe can act swiftly. At the same time, all involved in the process need sufficient time to approach the next steps with care. This must be a common objective.

STATEMENT/19/6065

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  • 1. 
    The European Commission is the executive body of the EU and runs its day-to-day business. It is made up of the College of Commissioners, 27 European Commissioners, one for each member state, who are each responsible for one or several policy areas. In addition, the 'Commission' also refers to the entire administrative body that supports the Commissioners, consisting of the Directorates-General and the Services.
     
  • 2. 
    De fractie van de Europese Volkspartij is een centrum-rechtse politieke fractie en vertegenwoordigt de christendemocratische stromingen in het Europees Parlement. De fractie is gelieerd aan de EVP-partij.
     
  • 3. 
    De Progressieve Alliantie van Socialisten en Democraten (S&D) is de sociaaldemocratische fractie in het Europees Parlement. De fractie is ontstaan als een alliantie tussen de Partij van de Europese Sociaal-Democraten (PES) en de Italiaanse Democratische Partij.
     
  • 4. 
    Renew Europe is sinds 12 juni 2019 de fractie van liberale en (liberaal-)democratische stromingen in Europa. Voorbeelden van deze partijen zijn de Belgische Open VLD, de Duitse Freie Demokratische Partei (FDP) en de Franse Mouvement Démocrate.
     
  • 5. 
    The European Parliament is the EU's law-making body. It is directly elected by EU voters every 5 years.
    What does the Parliament do?
    The Parliament has 3 main roles:
    Legislative