Geopolitical Europe Pulse: von der Leyen re-elected, Geopolitical Commission 2.0?
19 July 2024
Her re-election could not be taken for granted, but yesterday’s vote in the European Parliament was clear: Ursula von der Leyen received a mandate for heading the EU Commission for another term. This edition of the Geopolitical Europe Pulse brings you a roundup of commentaries and analyses on the implications of the re-election for the next years, and which challenges Europe as a geopolitical actor might face.
First things first: What’s on the Commission President’s agenda? Von der Leyen has published her priorities for the next five years, in which she recalls that “it is time for Europe to step up collectively once again”. At the core of her programme: European sovereignty in all fields, ranging from a new plan for sustainable prosperity and competitiveness to enhancing social policy, stepping up in security and defence, and a truly global role for the EU. In detail, the ideas are outlined in the Political Guidelines. As far as the EU’s role as a geopolitical actor is concerned, noteworthy initiatives to follow include:
the ambition to publish a White Paper for European defence in the first 100 days of the mandate
establishing Defence Projects of Common European Interest
a more strategic approach to the Mediterranean, including the appointment of a Commissioner for the Mediterranean
development of Clean Trade and Investment Partnerships, and enhancing trade relationships for critical raw materials
proposition of a new Strategic EU-India Agenda
Challenges ahead: The Political Guidelines demonstrate, unsurprisingly, a high level of ambition, but will also have to respond to myriad challenges. This piece in the Financial Times outlines the top five challenges ahead.
Dive deeper: The idea of European sovereignty is not only championed by von der Leyen, but a range of pro-EU actors - who modify and shape the term. The research article “How ‘European sovereignty’ became mainstream: the geopoliticisation of the EU’s ’sovereign turn’ by pro-EU executive actors” focuses on these actors and argues that the use of the concept in the European political discourse adds a geopolitical perspective to European debates.