n June 2024, Europeans will head to the polls to select the next class of EU leaders. Notably, this election will mark the end of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s first term. During her tenure, von der Leyen has advanced ambitious policy priorities to further the growth of Europe, including major long-term projects designed to make Europe a leader in both the green and digital transitions. The EU chief also consistently advocates for a harsher European policy towards China, often in direct opposition to her counterparts.
Ursula von der Leyen has had a major impact on the EU during her first term as European Commission President. Although she has not yet indicated whether she will seek a second term, von der Leyen has set the agenda with several issues certain to remain at the top of the EU’s to-do list for the foreseeable future. In the coming months, she’ll seek to cement her legacy—with these initiatives being the focus of her efforts.
Continuing to Map a Green Future for Europe
Leading the green transition has been a top priority of the von der Leyen commission since 2019, defined by the ambitious objective to put Europe on course to be the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. The European Green Deal and the Digital Decade 2030 projects have served as the dual hallmarks of the commission’s efforts to make Europe a global leader in the green transition. Most recently, the commission unveiled the Green Deal Industrial Plan, Europe’s primary industrial policy response to the United States’ Inflation Reduction Act, which includes efforts to boost European manufacturing of green technologies and protect European supply of critical materials through the complementary Net-Zero Industry and Critical Raw Materials Acts.
The latest push from the von der Leyen commission has been for the creation of a European Sovereignty Fund intended to fund the EU’s green industrial policy. Both von der Leyen and European Commissioner Thierry Breton have championed the development of a fund that was unveiled on June 20th this year. However, the “fund” seems to lack the firepower desired from von der Leyen. Renamed and repackaged as the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform, the proposal outlines for the EU to add meager amounts (totaling €10 billion) to existing funds like InvestEU and the Innovation Fund and keep industrial policy housed mainly at the national level. Without the ambitious fund she sought, delivering on her industrial plan for the EU has just become a tougher task in the final year of her term.
Coordinating a Common European Strategy Toward China
Von der Leyen has been outspoken on the need for Europe to recalibrate relations with China and has emphasized the importance in doing so with a shared direction. Her vision revolves around “de-risking” from Beijing, language which was subsequently adopted by the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) countries in a communiqué that followed May’s summit in Hiroshima. Von der Leyen’s perspective approaches China primarily from a geopolitical lens, referencing China’s ideological shift from “reform and opening” to “security and control.” In past remarks, von der Leyen has made her de-risking agenda clear, emphasizing building European competitiveness and bolstering economic security vis a vis China. On 20 June 2023, the European Commission released its first Economic Security Strategy; von der Leyen’s de-risking strategy blended economic policy and foreign policy in attempts to implement the de-risking agenda at the EU level.
Although the G7 has endorsed de-risking as the broadly defined path forward, it’s unclear whether all members of the political forum share the same definition. Recently, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron visited Beijing with large business delegations in tow—exemplifying more tepid approaches to Europe’s evolving China policy. The discussions that followed have often framed de-risking in cautious terms while state leaders simultaneously give assurances that robust economic ties between Europe and China will remain. Charting an effective European policy towards China becomes more difficult when the strategy is interpreted and implemented differently across the bloc.
Following the G7’s general concurrence on de-risking as the way forward, von der Leyen’s task remains turning broad rhetorical consensus into actionable policy that would personify a recalibration of European policy towards China. The Economic Security Strategy is a step towards that goal. It seems likely that von der Leyen will continue to press member states further on China, seen most recently in her willingness to push for outbound investment screening.
In what is potentially her last year at the helm of Europe, Ursula von der Leyen will continue to grow her legacy by moving the green transition along and by gathering consensus for de-risking from China. While both seem to be uphill battles that promise bureaucratic headaches and logistical challenges, von der Leyen has managed to unite Europe in the face of multiple global crises and has overcome stiff opposition. There’s no reason why we can’t expect her to make headway on her 2023 initiatives, too.
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What to Expect in the Last Year of von der Leyen
July 2, 2023
Voters in the EU will head to the polls next June to elect a new European Parliament, marking the end of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's first term. She has had a major impact on the EU during that term so far, and the next year looks no different, writes YPFP's Noah DeMichele.
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n June 2024, Europeans will head to the polls to select the next class of EU leaders. Notably, this election will mark the end of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s first term. During her tenure, von der Leyen has advanced ambitious policy priorities to further the growth of Europe, including major long-term projects designed to make Europe a leader in both the green and digital transitions. The EU chief also consistently advocates for a harsher European policy towards China, often in direct opposition to her counterparts.
Ursula von der Leyen has had a major impact on the EU during her first term as European Commission President. Although she has not yet indicated whether she will seek a second term, von der Leyen has set the agenda with several issues certain to remain at the top of the EU’s to-do list for the foreseeable future. In the coming months, she’ll seek to cement her legacy—with these initiatives being the focus of her efforts.
Continuing to Map a Green Future for Europe
Leading the green transition has been a top priority of the von der Leyen commission since 2019, defined by the ambitious objective to put Europe on course to be the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. The European Green Deal and the Digital Decade 2030 projects have served as the dual hallmarks of the commission’s efforts to make Europe a global leader in the green transition. Most recently, the commission unveiled the Green Deal Industrial Plan, Europe’s primary industrial policy response to the United States’ Inflation Reduction Act, which includes efforts to boost European manufacturing of green technologies and protect European supply of critical materials through the complementary Net-Zero Industry and Critical Raw Materials Acts.
The latest push from the von der Leyen commission has been for the creation of a European Sovereignty Fund intended to fund the EU’s green industrial policy. Both von der Leyen and European Commissioner Thierry Breton have championed the development of a fund that was unveiled on June 20th this year. However, the “fund” seems to lack the firepower desired from von der Leyen. Renamed and repackaged as the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform, the proposal outlines for the EU to add meager amounts (totaling €10 billion) to existing funds like InvestEU and the Innovation Fund and keep industrial policy housed mainly at the national level. Without the ambitious fund she sought, delivering on her industrial plan for the EU has just become a tougher task in the final year of her term.
Coordinating a Common European Strategy Toward China
Von der Leyen has been outspoken on the need for Europe to recalibrate relations with China and has emphasized the importance in doing so with a shared direction. Her vision revolves around “de-risking” from Beijing, language which was subsequently adopted by the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) countries in a communiqué that followed May’s summit in Hiroshima. Von der Leyen’s perspective approaches China primarily from a geopolitical lens, referencing China’s ideological shift from “reform and opening” to “security and control.” In past remarks, von der Leyen has made her de-risking agenda clear, emphasizing building European competitiveness and bolstering economic security vis a vis China. On 20 June 2023, the European Commission released its first Economic Security Strategy; von der Leyen’s de-risking strategy blended economic policy and foreign policy in attempts to implement the de-risking agenda at the EU level.
Although the G7 has endorsed de-risking as the broadly defined path forward, it’s unclear whether all members of the political forum share the same definition. Recently, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron visited Beijing with large business delegations in tow—exemplifying more tepid approaches to Europe’s evolving China policy. The discussions that followed have often framed de-risking in cautious terms while state leaders simultaneously give assurances that robust economic ties between Europe and China will remain. Charting an effective European policy towards China becomes more difficult when the strategy is interpreted and implemented differently across the bloc.
Following the G7’s general concurrence on de-risking as the way forward, von der Leyen’s task remains turning broad rhetorical consensus into actionable policy that would personify a recalibration of European policy towards China. The Economic Security Strategy is a step towards that goal. It seems likely that von der Leyen will continue to press member states further on China, seen most recently in her willingness to push for outbound investment screening.
In what is potentially her last year at the helm of Europe, Ursula von der Leyen will continue to grow her legacy by moving the green transition along and by gathering consensus for de-risking from China. While both seem to be uphill battles that promise bureaucratic headaches and logistical challenges, von der Leyen has managed to unite Europe in the face of multiple global crises and has overcome stiff opposition. There’s no reason why we can’t expect her to make headway on her 2023 initiatives, too.
