Newly re-elected Von der Leyen promises new Clean Industrial Deal

The European Parliament today re-elected Ursula von der Leyen as President of the European Commission (EC) for another five years.

Von der Leyen was elected for a second term with 401 votes in favour, 284 against, and 22 cast blank or invalid votes. She has been the Commission President since 2019.

In her pre-election speech, Von der Leyen pledged to put forward a new Clean Industrial Deal in the first 100 days, channeling investment in infrastructure and energy-intensive sectors, and ultimately reducing energy bills. The move is expected to help establish “lead markets in everything from clean steel to clean tech” and it will accelerate planning, tendering, and permitting, she explained.

On the topic of green energy, the EC president said the following: “Let me give you some figures. To start: in the first half of this year, 50% of our electricity generation came from renewables – home-grown and clean. Investments in clean technologies in Europe have more than tripled in this mandate. We attract more investments in clean hydrogen than the US and China combined. Finally, in the last years, we have concluded with global partners 35 new agreements on clean tech, hydrogen and critical raw materials.

"This is the European Green Deal in action. So I want to be clear. We will stay the course on our new growth strategy and the goals we set for 2030 and 2050. Our focus now will be on implementation and investment to make it happen on the ground," Von der Leyen stated.

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