A Europe that is reinforced in terms of defence, borders and economy, but also more social. The conservative Ursula von der Leyen, who hopes to repeat as head of the European Commission and is subject to a key vote this Thursday in the European Parliament, has promised a new “European affordable housing plan”, with a strategy for construction and investment, and in which the Community Executive will open its hand to cohesion funds and allow State aid for that chapter. The German, from the family of the European People’s Party, thus picks up the gauntlet of the Socialists and Democrats (S&D), who had demanded measures on housing, a major cross-cutting European problem, to support her. At an increasingly turbulent time at a global level, in which Europe is looking for a shock Not to be left behind, Von der Leyen has also pledged to launch a European prosperity plan, a public investment plan, to compete with China and the United States.
“Europe is facing a housing crisis affecting people of all ages and families of all sizes. Prices and rents are skyrocketing. People are struggling to find affordable housing,” said Von der Leyen in front of a packed House in Strasbourg. The German leader has also promised to assign a commissioner specific responsibilities in housing. The strategy that she will launch if she is re-elected, unprecedented in the EU, will include an “immediate” first step: Brussels will propose injecting liquidity into the market, to allow member states to double the investments planned under cohesion policy in affordable housing.
She will also review state aid rules to allow for support measures for the sector, especially for social and affordable and energy-efficient housing, she said. These are the foundations of the plan, which still needs further development. “Usually, housing is not seen as a European issue, some will say we should not get involved. But I want this Commission to support people where it matters most. If Europeans care, Europe cares,” she said.
Von der Leyen has promised a competitiveness fund, which will be aimed primarily at supporting clean industry, and has promised to reduce regulation and preserve the EU’s competitive advantage. “Our competitiveness needs a boost,” said the Christian Democrat in her speech in the European Parliament, before the legislators who must vote on her re-election. The German has received applause from almost all parties, but also harsh criticism of her program from the most extreme groups and from the left. “This mandate has to be the mandate of investments,” she stressed.
Von der Leyen has promised a “savings and investment union” so that companies and businesses can startupsdo not leave Europe. They want better integration of the continent’s capital markets so that defence, green and digital transition can have more private financing.
A housing strategy, a plan to end poverty and continue with the green agenda, albeit in a “pragmatic” way. Von der Leyen’s main lines for the next legislature have a lot to do with social issues; all in a reality that is more tilted to the right. But also many economic measures, competitiveness and promises to toughen immigration policy – tripling the number of border guards to 30,000 and strengthening the Frontex agency, as well as a new pact for the Mediterranean aimed at preventing arrivals – as the right had demanded. The conservative has given a little to everyone.
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And she has been relatively blunt – much more so than other times – also when speaking about Israel’s war in the Strip. “I want to be clear: the bloodshed in Gaza must stop now. Too many children, women and civilians have lost their lives as a result of Israel’s response to Hamas’ brutal terror. The people of Gaza cannot bear it any longer. Humanity cannot bear it. We need an immediate and lasting ceasefire,” she said.
The German needs 361 votes (out of 720) to remain at the head of the European Executive and will rely mainly on the alliance of the EPP, the Social Democrats, the Liberals and the Greens, to whom she has promised to include their priorities on the agenda. But she wants to be comfortable and has also touched the far-right family of the European Reformists and Conservatives (ECR), that of the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni.
In the midst of a crisis between the European Union and Hungary, due to the visits and meetings of the national populist Viktor Orbán to Moscow, to meet with Vladimir Putin in Moscow, with the Chinese president Xi Jinping, in Beijing, and the Republican candidate Donald Trump, who aspires to return to the presidency of the United States, Von der Leyen has also attacked the Hungarian leader, who holds the six-month presidency of the EU Council and claims that the visits are part of a “peace mission” for Ukraine. “There are some who are dancing alone,” she said. “It was not a peace mission, it was a mission of appeasement, nothing more,” Von der Leyen insisted, to a wave of applause. “Just two days after the visit, the Hungarian leader has been forced to leave Ukraine, and he … [de la visita de Orbán]Putin directed his missiles at a children’s hospital in kyiv,” he recalled.
“No one wants peace more than the Ukrainian people, a lasting peace, a free independent country. Europe will stand by Ukraine as long as it takes – that is our message,” he said. “For the first time in decades, our freedom is under threat; we have a responsibility to do everything necessary to defend our European citizens, to protect Europe. The time has come to build a true European Union of defence,” he said.
