VON DER LEYEN- NEW EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT

Results

• For : 383 votes
• Against : 327 votes
• Abstention : 22 votes
• Void : 1 vote

Total : 733 Votes

VON DER LEYEN’S VISION FOR EU

1. I want Europe to become the first climate-neutral continent in the world by 2050. To make this happen, we must take bold steps together. Our current goal of reducing our emissions by 40% by 2030 is not enough. We must go further. We must strive for more. A two-step approach is needed to reduce CO2 emissions by 2030 by 50, if not 55%. The EU will lead international negotiations to increase the level of ambition of other major economies by 2021. To make this happen, I will put forward a Green Deal for Europe in my first 100 days in office. I will put forward the first ever European Climate Law which will set the 2050 target into law.
2. Public money will not be enough. I will propose a Sustainable Europe Investment Plan and turn parts of the European Investment Bank into a Climate Bank. This will unlock €1 trillion of investment over the next decade.
3. All of us and every sector will have to contribute, from aviation to maritime transport to the way each and everyone of us travels and lives. Emissions must have a price that changes our behaviour. To complement this work, and to ensure our companies can compete on a level-playing field, I will introduce a Carbon Border Tax to avoid carbon leakage.
4. But what is good for our planet must also be good for our people and our regions. Of course, I know about the importance of cohesion funds. But we need more. We need a just transition for all. Not all of our regions have the same starting point – but we all share the same destination. This is why I will propose a Just Transition Fund to support those most affected.
5. We need to strengthen the backbone of our economies: the small and medium-sized enterprises. They are innovative, they are entrepreneurial, they are flexible and agile, they create jobs, they provide vocational training to our youth. But they can only do all this if they have access to capital everywhere in this huge Single market. Let's get rid of all the barriers. Let's open the door. Let's finally complete the Capital Markets Union. Our SMEs deserve it.
6. We need to work within the Stability and Growth Pact. Where investment and reforms are needed, we should make sure they can be done. We should make use of all the flexibility allowed in the rules. We want to make it stronger.
7. I will refocus our European Semester to make sure we stay on track with our Sustainable Development Goals.
8. I will stand for fair taxes – whether for brick and mortar industries or digital businesses. When the tech giants are making huge profits in Europe, this is fine because we are an open market and we like competition. But if they are making these profits by benefiting from our education system, our skilled workers, our infrastructure and our social security, if this is so, it is not acceptable that they make profits, but they are barely paying any taxes because they play our tax system. If they want to benefit, they have to share the burden.
9. I want to ensure that work pays. In a Social Market Economy, every person that is working full time should earn a minimum wage that pays for a decent living. Therefore we will develop a framework, of course in respect of the different labour markets. But I think the optimal option is to have collective bargaining by employers' unions and trade unions because they tailor the minimum wage to the sector or to the region necessary. Of course I am aware there are different models, but we have to create the framework. And I want better protection for those who lose their jobs when our economy takes a severe hit. A European Unemployment Benefit Reinsurance Scheme will support our economies and our people in times of external shocks. Of course there are national unemployment insurances but a reinsurance scheme for these heavy external shocks is needed in Europe.
10. I also want more equality and fairness for our young people. Youth unemployment is at 14.2% in Europe, but ranges from 5% to 40% in some countries. We cannot accept this. Young people have aspirations, they want to work, they want to have a future – and it is our job to let them achieve this. This is why I will make sure the Youth Guarantee, which I started when I was a minister for labour affairs in our Council, is working as well as it can in every Member State. And I will support the European Parliament's idea to triple the Erasmus+ budget as part of the next long-term budget.
11. We have to care for the most vulnerable: our children. We have to fight poverty. We need a Child Guarantee to help ensure that every child in Europe at risk of poverty and social exclusion has access to the most basic of rights like healthcare and education. It will empower them and it pays tremendously if we back them when they are young. This is part of my action plan to bring our Pillar of Social Rights to life.
12. I will ensure full gender equality in my College of Commissioners. If Member States do not propose enough female Commissioners, I will not hesitate to ask for new names. Since 1958 there have been 183 Commissioners. Only 35 were women. That is less than 20%. We represent half of our population. We want our fair share.  
13. We also need to talk openly about violence against women. If 1 in 5 women have already suffered physical or sexual violence in the European Union and 55% of women have been sexually harassed, this is clearly not a women's issue. I will propose to add violence against women on the list of EU crimes defined in the Treaty. And the European Union should join the Istanbul Convention.
14. The Rule of Law is our best tool to defend these freedoms and to protect the most vulnerable in our Union. This is why there can be no compromise when it comes to respecting the Rule of Law. There never will be. I will ensure that we use our full and comprehensive toolbox at European level. In addition, I fully support an EU-wide Rule of Law Mechanism. To be clear: the new instrument is not an alternative to the existing instruments, but an additional one. The Commission will always be an independent guardian of the Treaties. Lady Justice is blind – she will defend the Rule of Law wherever it is attacked. 
15. The Rule of Law is universal. It applies to all. In the last five years, more than 17,000 people have drowned in the Mediterranean, which has become one of the deadliest borders in the world. At sea there is the duty to save lives and in our Treaties and conventions there is the legal and moral duty to respect the dignity of every human being.
16. The European Union can and must defend these values. The European Union needs humane borders. We must save, but saving alone is not enough. We must reduce irregular migration, we must fight smugglers and traffickers – it is organised crime –, we must preserve the right to asylum and improve the situation of refugees, for example through humanitarian corridors in close cooperation with the UNHCR. We need empathy and decisive action.
17. We need to address the legitimate concerns of many and look at how we can overcome our differences. I will propose a New Pact on Migration and Asylum, including the relaunch of the Dublin reform.
18. This will allow us to return to a fully functioning Schengen Area of free movement, the key driver of our prosperity, security and freedoms. A centre piece in this ambition is a reinforced European Border and Coast Guard Agency. We need to reach a standing corps of 10,000 Frontex border guards not by 2027, but way earlier, at least by 2024.
19. We have to modernise our asylum system. A Common European Asylum System must be exactly that – common. We can only have stable external borders if we give enough help to Member States facing the most pressure because of where they are on the map.
20. We need solidarity. We all need to help each other and contribute. We need a new way of burden-sharing. And we must make fair cooperation offers to countries of origin and transit which are in the interests of both sides. Diplomacy, economic development, investment, stability and security are needed so that people have a perspective.
21. I believe Europe should have a stronger and more united voice in the world – and it needs to act fast. That is why we must have the courage to take foreign policy decisions by qualified majority. And to stand united behind them.
22. The cornerstone of our collective defence will always be NATO. We will stay transatlantic and we have to become more European. This is why we created the European Defence Union. Our work for our European Union of security and defence is embedded in comprehensive security. Stabilisation always comes with diplomacy, reconciliation and reconstruction.
23. I cannot talk about Europe without talking about our friends from the United Kingdom. The Withdrawal Agreement concluded with the government of the United Kingdom provides certainty where Brexit created uncertainty: in preserving the rights of citizens and in preserving peace and stability on the island of Ireland. These two priorities are mine, too. However, I stand ready for a further extension of the withdrawal date, should more time be required for a good reason. In any case, the United Kingdom will remain our ally, our partner and our friend. 
24.  I want European citizens to play a leading and active part in building the future of our Union. I want them to have their say at a Conference on the Future of Europe, to start in 2020 and run for two years.
25.  I want us to work together to improve the Spitzenkandidaten system. We need to make it more visible to the wider electorate and we need to address the issue of transnational lists at the European elections as a complementary tool of European democracy. And third – yes, I support a right of initiative for the European Parliament. When this House, acting by majority of its Members, adopts Resolutions requesting the Commission to submit legislative proposals, I commit to responding with a legislative act in full respect of the proportionality, subsidiarity, and better law-making principles.