EU’s border management

Incumbent European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen pledged on Thursday to revamp border management, strengthen Frontex and Europol, and to put forward a new approach for the return of migrants, if she wins a second five-year term as head of the European Commission.

In a 31-page document setting out her vision, before EU lawmakers vote to elect or reject her later on Thursday, she said she will propose to triple the number of European border and coast guards to 30,000.

Von der Leyen’s plans in brief

DEFENCE AND SECURITY

– Build a “true European Defence Union” and create a single market for defence products and services.

– Propose Defence Projects of Common European Interest starting with a European Air Shield and cyber defence.

– Appoint a Commissioner for Defence, who will coordinate efforts to strengthen Europe’s defence industrial base.

– Present a White Paper on the Future of European Defence in the next Commission’s first 100 days.

– More than double the staff of European police agency Europol.

ECONOMIC POLICY

– Create a European Savings and Investments Union, including banking and capital markets to leverage private savings to invest in innovation and clean and digital transitions.

– Establish a European Competitiveness Fund as part of the EU’s next long-term budget, starting in 2028. The fund, of unspecified size and financing method, is to invest in strategic technologies like Artificial Intelligence, space, clean tech and biotechnology and support European projects of common interest.

COMPETITIVENESS, FOREIGN ECONOMIC POLICY

– Present a “Clean Deal Industrial Deal” in the next Commission’s first 100 days to ensure the EU is making the products it requires for its green transition and reduces its reliance on imports from China.

– Increase the share of renewables in EU electricity power generation beyond its current 50% and make it easier for banks and investors to finance fast-growing companies and steer private savings into the green and digital transitions.

– Revise Public Procurement Directive to enable preference for European products in strategic sectors.

– Formulate new economic foreign policy that forges critical mineral partnerships, drives investment in Africa, Asia and Latin America and guards against technology leakage.

CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENERGY

– Propose a legally-binding EU target to cut emissions by 90% by 2040, compared to 1990 levels.

– Focus on ensuring countries can fulfil the EU’s existing CO2-cutting policies.

– Von der Leyen indicated she plans to maintain a contentious policy to ban sales of new CO2-emitting cars by 2035. But her policy document said the law would be tweaked to confirm cars running on e-fuels can still be sold after 2035.

– Present plan to help countries adapt to worsening climate change, which is hitting EU countries like Spain and Greece with severe drought and wildfires.

– Extend EU’s joint purchasing scheme for gas to include hydrogen and critical raw materials.

MIGRATION

– Triple the number of European Border and Coast Guards to 30,000.

– Develop new EU Visa Policy Strategy “to better secure borders and manage migration”.

– Appoint a Commissioner for the Mediterranean and establish a Pact for the Mediterranean with countries in the region.

– Present new common approach on return of migrants, with new legislation “to speed up and simplify the process”.

OTHER POLICY AREAS

– Appoint a commissioner whose responsibilities will include housing and put forward a European Affordable Housing Plan.

– Appoint a dedicated Commissioner for Enlargement to help bring candidate countries closer to EU membership.

“We will show no tolerance for those who threaten the security of our borders and our citizens with hybrid attacks,” von der Leyen said.

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“Hostile actors who push people across the EU’s external borders for political purposes should be recognised as a threat to our security and should be sanctioned.”

Von der Leyen added she will appoint dedicated commissioners for EU enlargement and for relations with the Mediterranean.

Green policy

Ursula von der Leyen vowed to not weaken Europe’s efforts to tackle climate change.

Von der Leyen committed to propose new climate policies, including a legally-binding European Union target to cut emissions 90% by 2040.

“We must and will stay the course on the goals set out in the European Green Deal,” the document said, referring to the package of climate policies that von der Leyen made the core mission of her first five-years in office.

The next EU Commission, if led by her, would continue with the EU’s existing CO2-cutting policies, and propose new measures to help European industries stay competitive while they invest in curbing emissions – a “clean industrial deal” that von der Leyen pledged to deliver within her first 100 days in office.

The climate-friendly commitments are likely to help von der Leyen win votes from Green EU lawmakers on Thursday, when the European Parliament votes on whether to approve her for a second five-year term.

Von der Leyen has come under pressure from some EU lawmakers to weaken parts of Europe’s green agenda – including from some in her own centre-right European People’s Party group. However, the document’s focus on helping industries stay competitive may help hold on to votes among her conservative colleagues.

Von der Leyen indicated she plans to maintain a contentious EU policy to ban sales of new CO2-emitting cars by 2035 – a target the document said “creates predictability for investors and manufacturers”.

However, It said an upcoming review of the policy would be used to confirm that cars running on e-fuels can count towards the goal.

EPP lawmakers had demanded assurances on these fuels, which some manufacturers want to grow a market for, because they can be used in conventional combustion engine cars.

Von der Leyen, a mother of seven and the first woman to head the Commission, needs support from at least 361 lawmakers in the 720-member EU Parliament.

She also promised a plan to help countries adapt to worsening climate change, which is unleashing severe drought and deadly wildfires in EU countries including Spain and Greece.

EU air shield in new defence push

THE EC president promised to create “a true European Defence Union” over the next five years, with flagship projects on air and cyber defence, if she wins a second term.

“Member States will always retain responsibility for their own troops, from doctrine to deployment,” von der Leyen said in a document setting out her programme before a European Parliament vote later in the day on granting her another term.

“But there is a lot Europe can do to support and coordinate efforts to strengthen the defence industrial base, innovation and the (European) single market,” she added.

The document’s focus on defence reflected how the issue has surged to the top of the European political agenda following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

European leaders have stressed they must do more to bolster their own defences, especially given doubts over how much they can rely on the United States for protection if Republican Donald Trump wins the U.S. presidential election in November.

Against this backdrop, the European Commission is seeking to play a greater role in defence policy – an area that has traditionally been the domain of national governments and NATO.

Von der Leyen confirmed she planned to appoint a European Commissioner for Defence – a new post – and said the Commission would present a “White Paper on the Future of European Defence” in the first 100 days of its next term.

She said major EU defence projects “should focus on our biggest common and cross-border threats”.

“Working with Member States and in close coordination with NATO, we will propose a number of Defence Projects of Common European Interest starting with a European Air Shield and cyber defence,” she said.

“We will ensure that these major projects are open to all and we will use all of the tools at our disposal – both regulatory and financial – to ensure they are designed, built and deployed on European soil as quickly as possible.”

Von der Leyen did not say how such projects would be funded. But she said her Commission would make “proposals for urgent defence investment needs”.

Rules on public procurement 

The European Union needs to update its rules on public procurement to give European products a preference for certain strategic sectors, the president of the European Commission said on Thursday.

The EU’s 2 trillion euro public procurement, worth some 14% of EU gross domestic product, is largely open to foreign competition, while major rivals such as China and the United States lean more towards local production.

Von der Leyen, seeking to head the Commission for a second term until 2029, said in a document detailing her plans that an update to public procurement rules would ensure security for supply for vital technologies, products and services.

“It will also modernise and simplify our public procurement rules, in particular with EU start-ups and innovators in mind,” said the guidelines published ahead of a vote in the European Parliament on whether to reappoint von der Leyen.

Von der Leyen also said the European Union needed a new economic foreign policy that forges critical mineral partnerships, drives investment in Africa, Asia and Latin America and guards against technology leakage

“Europe’s trading power and economic openness is essential to our prosperity,” the guidelines said.

The new EU executive would also set out a “Clean Deal Industrial Deal” in its first 100 days to ensure the European Union is making the products it requires for its green transition and reduces its reliance on imports from China.

The guidelines said the bloc should increase the share of renewables in EU electricity power generation beyond its current 50% and make it easier for banks and investors to finance fast-growing companies and steer private savings into the green and digital transitions.