Presentation by the Commission President-elect of the College of Commissioners and their programme (debate)
Speaker: Manfred WEBER (Germany, Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) / Christlich-Soziale Union in Bayern e.V.)
Date: 2019-11-27

  Manfred Weber,  on behalf of the PPE Group. – Mr President, clear priorities, well balanced, forward looking: that was the speech we heard today from Ursula von der Leyen. I thank you for this.
The last weeks were prime time for us as the European Parliament. We checked all the candidates proposed by the Member States, whether they were ready for the job. Not everybody was ready for the job, but finally we now have Commissioners in front of us who the responsible committee gave the green light to. The EPP was always insisting during the whole period on a transparent and fair procedure.
Ursula, the last weeks and months were challenging for you, but you were finally very successful. You worked hard and presented to us today your new college: the team for the leadership for Europe. Together we delivered, and today, hopefully with the full support of this House, we can also give the new Commission a strong democratic legitimacy.
One of the key achievements of your team is the better gender balance – the improvement of gender balance. We have more female Commissioners than ever before, and I’m proud to say, as an EPP responsible politician, that from the EPP part of the college, we have 50% women, so we achieved our goal to get a 50% balance. Others still have to work on this, and we brought, as the EPP, the first female Commission President-in-Office, so for us it’s not only about Sunday speeches; for us, we deliver when it is about gender balance.
(Applause)
And we have a good mixture from experienced colleagues like Johannes Hahn, like Phil Hogan, Valdis Dombrovskis and Mariya Gabriel. We have new Commissioners like Stella Kyriakides, Margaritis Schinas and Olivér Várhelyi, and we have two colleagues who served for years in the European Parliament: Adina Vălean and Dubravka Šuica. So from our team as EPP, we have a good mixture and we count on their contribution.
My Group, the European People’s Party, got in the last elections 40 million votes, and we have now the responsibility to deliver what our people, our voters, ask us to do. As the biggest party in Europe, in the European Parliament, in the Group we want to deliver now. In 2024 we will have implemented an ambitious and smart climate policy based on innovation, without attacking farmers and without doing politics against the industry. In 2024 we will have achieved a situation whereby the European Union has a master plan against cancer. We will have achieved, in 2024, to build up five million new jobs. And we have to stop the brain drain between East and West. In 2024 we will have agreed on further trade agreements; when Trump is building up trade walls, we as Europeans have to build up trade bridges. And in 2024 we will have transformed Europol into a full European FBI, where the mafia and organised crime is really under pressure. In 2024 we will have defined the final borders of Europe. Turkey is a strong partner, but Turkey cannot become a member of the European Union. And in 2024 we will have established a strong European Border and Coast Guard with at least 10 000 Frontex officers to protect our borders, so it is they and not the smugglers who decide who is arriving in Europe.
That is what we have in mind when we speak about delivering. That’s why the European People’s Party will today vote in favour of the Commission. Let’s start now to deliver our promises.
Ambitious projects are important – no doubt about this. But in the coming years there is even more at stake. We feel our societies are falling apart. Our European common feeling is more and more under attack because of the split between people who feel threatened by globalisation and those who enjoy the new opportunities. What makes Europe unique is at stake. A feeling of belonging is needed so much; identity is needed so much. All of us know how to describe our national identity: by our history, by our achievements, our culture. But we, as Europeans – can we describe our way of living, our European way of life? Even in the poorest countries in Europe we have a health system based on solidarity; in the US they are still discussing Obamacare. All over Europe the death penalty is forbidden; that’s not the case at global level. Democracy, rule of law, equal treatment of men and women; and, as the headline for the European way of life 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, freedom: freedom of speech, of religion, of the press.
I’m fascinated by the Chinese culture but I don’t want to live the Chinese way of life, and the Americans will always be Europe’s closest partner – but I don’t want to live the American way of life. I prefer the European way of life. We will always protect, promote and guarantee the European way of life. I like being a European, and the next five years will decide whether Europe keeps its heart and soul, or whether it will be pushed aside in a more and more brutal world.
The EPP is ready to work together with all democratic groups in this House for a better Europe. This EPP have proven, in the tradition of De Gasperi, of Adenauer, Schuman and Helmut Kohl, that we fight for a united Europe. The people count on us. Let’s start now to deliver.
(Applause)