Von der Leyen opens European elections race, promises EU support for industries to transition

Brussels – Supporting industry on its path to zero net emissions by mid-century: Just a day after announcing his willingness to run in the upcoming European elections, Ursula von der Leyen took part today (Feb. 20) in Antwerp, Belgium, in the Industry Summit hosted by the Belgian presidency at the helm of the EU.

The @EU_Commission is here to support each industry on its net-zero path, I said at today’s Industry Summit.

Predictability, lower energy prices, competitiveness and a strong business case for clean tech

– this is what we are working on.

And how we will keep our head start. pic.twitter.com/66Jqn0kKOw

– Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) February 20, 2024

She confirms that, if reappointed to lead the EU executive after the elections, the new mandate will focus less on the Green Deal and the Green Pact for Europe and more on the competitive and industrial dimension of the EU. While the Green Deal, the Green Pact for Europe, has been the central pivot of this waning von der Leyen-led legislature, it is precisely the German president who has made it clear in recent months that she wants to rethink its pillars to mend the rift with the Christian Democratic family of the EPP to which she belongs (paving the way for the idea of a second term). The EPP’s criticism of its Green Pact for Europe has prompted von der Leyen to launch a “Green Deal 2.0” phase that is more attentive to the business and agricultural fabric, which is most unhappy with this fast-paced transition. In recent months, von der Leyen has launched a series of Transition Dialogues with industry and a Strategic Dialogue with farmers that will adjust the outgoing president’s tune so as not to repeat the same mistakes in the next (eventual) term.

Competitiveness, on the one hand, (industrial) defence, on the other. These will be two pillars of the next legislature if von der Leyen is reappointed to lead the European executive and does not seem intent on repeating “the political mistake” of focusing it on the green revolution. No longer a Green Deal but an Industrial Deal, a European industrial one to complement the Green Deal and keep high-quality jobs for European workers in Europe. That’s what the 73 European signatory industrialists call for in the “Antwerp Declaration for a European Industrial Agreement” signed today while the European Industry Summit was underway in the Belgian city with European Commission President and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo. “To achieve climate neutrality by 2050 and reach the recently communicated 2040 target, power generation in Europe will have to multiply, and industrial investment will have to be six times higher than in the previous decade,” the declaration reads. “This enormous challenge comes at a time when both large companies and SMEs are facing the most severe economic recession in a decade as demand is falling, production costs are rising, and investment is shifting to other regions.”

Without a targeted industrial policy, the industrialists warn, “Europe risks becoming dependent even on commodities and chemicals. Europe cannot allow this to happen.” The reference is to the pressures the industry is experiencing from the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) financial support that Europe lacks “and its ease of accessibility, a Chinese overcapacity, and increased exports to Europe further increase the pressure on European industry. Our companies face this challenge every day,” they warn.