With 401 votes in favour, the European Parliament elected Ursula von der Leyen as President of the European Commission in a secret ballot on 18 July. Following the election, Roberta Metsola, EP President, and Ursula von der Leyen hold a press conference in Strasbourg. This will be Ursula von der Leyen’s second term as Commission President. She was first elected by MEPs in July 2019. This transcription is a result of an automatic process. Please check against delivery.

Strasbourg

press conference

METSOLA, Roberta (EPP, MT, EP President)

appointment of the President of the European Commission (T)

VON DER LEYEN, Ursula (DE, EC)

Joint press conference by Roberta METSOLA, EP President and Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President-elect of the European Commission

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, EP President, Good afternoon. I would like to start by warmly congratulating Ursula von der Leyen on her well-deserved re-election as President of the European Commission. The clear vote in favour by Members of the European Parliament is a testament to her strong leadership and unwavering values in testing times. It is the best possible decision for Europe, as it ensures continuity and that Europe will continue to develop further and deliver for our citizens.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, EP President, Dear Ursula, I look forward to continuing to work with you. In the debate with Members, the President clearly outlined her priorities for the European Union in the coming five years, and it is now time to get to work on turning these priorities into reality for all Europeans.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, EP President, I was also pleased to note the Commission President referring to a stronger and more involved Parliament, the willingness to renegotiate the framework agreement, as well as her clear support for the Parliament's right to initiative. This is a win-win and steps that will ultimately strengthen the union's legitimacy.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, EP President, What happens now? The next step is to form the College of Commissioners, and here Parliament is, as always, ready to play its part in the process. We will take our scrutiny role very seriously, while working closely with the Commission President Elect, in order to put the strongest possible team together on the pitch for Europe. I will leave it here and handed over to our newly re-elected President of the European Commission. Thank you.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President-elect of the European Commission, Thank you very much, Roberta. Good afternoon to everyone. I guess you have heard my speech, and you might have the possibility to have gone or read the political guidelines. So, you can imagine this is a very emotional and special moment for me now. I just want to make three very short remarks before moving on to your questions.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President-elect of the European Commission, The first one is, a more personal remark. I cannot begin without expressing how much I am grateful for the trust and the confidence of the majority of the European Parliament. 401 votes in favour. Do you recall last time? It was eight votes above the majority, necessary majority. This time it's 41. So much better.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President-elect of the European Commission, And this sends a strong message of confidence. And I think it's also a recognition for the hard work that we carried out together in the last five years, within the last mandate. We've spared no effort. We have navigated the most troubled waters that our Union has ever faced, and we've kept the course on our long-term European goals.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President-elect of the European Commission, I also want to thank you, Roberta, the group leaders of the democratic forces in Parliament and all the MEPs for the excellent cooperation, including during the last mandate, but also for the very substantial exchanges we have had over the past two weeks, after the elections and now the past two weeks till we are here. So, I think this is a very good foundation for the next five years. And this was, I think, tangible in the debate today.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President-elect of the European Commission, Second, I want to highlight, that I was very happy to have the opportunity to carry out a real pan-European electoral campaign. As you know, it brought me from Helsinki to Lisbon, from Bucharest to Rome and many different places. I engaged with people from all walks of life, and I enjoyed taking part in a series of TV debates we had with the other candidates. I think this makes our European democracy much more vibrant.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President-elect of the European Commission, And finally, let me walk briefly through the next steps indeed. I will focus on building now my team of Commissioners for the next five years. In the coming weeks, I will ask leaders to put forward their candidates. I will, as I did last time, write a letter and ask for the proposal of a man and a woman as candidates. Only exception, like last time, when there is an incumbent Commissioner that stays.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President-elect of the European Commission, And then I will interview the candidates as of mid-August. And I want to pick the best prepared candidates who share the European commitment. Once again, I will aim for an equal share of men and women at the college table. The new team will get ready for successfully passing then the Parliament hearings, and then I will again seek the confirmation of this House. Thank you very much.

Q&A, Questions regarding on regulating combustion engine cars.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President-elect of the European Commission, So if we look at the cars, what is the state of play? We have a law. 2035 climate neutrality target for cars. That target stays. And we have to create predictability for investors and manufacturers, and, of course, customers.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President-elect of the European Commission, Getting their will required, indeed, a technology neutral approach in which e-fuels have to play a role. You know that at the moment being we have the law and we have the proposal for the e-fuels. And they can play a role through a targeted amendment of the regulation as part of the foreseen review. So important is we stick to the goals, and we are technology neutral.

Q&A, Question regarding on political groups, which supported von der Leyen's re-election.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President-elect of the European Commission, Yes. I will, work as intensively and as good as possible with those who supported me. Indeed, it's the pro-European, pro-Ukraine, pro rule of law. I'm very grateful, of course, to the platform, EPP, Renew and S&D, but I'm also very grateful to the Green group to have supported me. We had intensive exchanges on all the topics, and it's a good sign that, at the very end, obviously they were convinced to support me.

Q&A, Question regarding on Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni and her party Brothers of Italy.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President-elect of the European Commission, The result shows that the approach was the right one. We've been working very hard throughout the election campaign. And again, I must say, to really bundle the democratic forces and to have a majority in the centre for a strong Europe. And therefore the approach to say, all those who are pro-European, pro-Ukraine, pro-Rule of law, we offer to work together. And the result today, I think, speaks for itself. It was the right approach.

Q&A, Question on Ursula von der Leyen's message to cizitens.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President-elect of the European Commission, We are working all together for a strong Europe. We are working on the topics of prosperity and competitiveness in our economy, social fairness because we have a social market economy. We are working on protecting people, social security and defence. But the most important is the overarching topic of strengthening our democracy. Our democracy is under attack from inside and from outside, and therefore it is crucial that the democratic forces stand together to defend our democracy.

Q&A, Question regarding on the repercusion in the European Union of the US elections and Donald Trump's appointment JD Vance as his Vice-President.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President-elect of the European Commission, I think, disrespect of elections in other parts of the world, it is important that we have, which I emphasised many times a stronger Europe. This includes, of course, that we reduce our dependencies. We will work very closely with our friends and allies. That is absolutely clear. But this does, also include that we are building our own strength and that we are strengthening the qualities that Europe have and that we are working hard to have a strong Europe. This must be, the premise we are working on.