The von der Leyen Commission: On trial again. EPC Commentary April 2021.

Riekeles, Georg (2021) The von der Leyen Commission: On trial again. EPC Commentary April 2021. [Policy Paper]

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Abstract

When the dust finally starts settling from the COVID-19 crisis, von der Leyen will have to refocus on her original agenda. Will she deliver? Fast-forward five months, Commission President von der Leyen will deliver her second State of the Union address. In effect, it will be her mid-mandate speech and chance to turn the corner from her disappointing management of the pandemic. New waves of the virus might still hit, but by then, vaccinations levels will likely offer Europeans and EU institutions the long-sought reprieve to focus on recovery and the future. At its inception, von der Leyen’s Commission formulated bold and inspiring promises: a European Green Deal and climate neutrality by 2050; making the 2020s Europe’s Digital Decade; a stronger, geopolitical Europe. The seven-year Next Generation EU budget and its €672.5 billion Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) increase the means to deliver on these substantially. These four, highly ambitious priorities stand as a formidable test for the remainder of von der Leyen’s mandate. It is a trial that she – and the EU – cannot afford to fail. By September, she will need to prove that she can transform her Presidency and deliver on these expectations.

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