New signature scheme for second von der Leyen European Commission

IN 2019, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made the Green Deal the signature issue of her first term of office. However, with controversy now surrounding that initiative, a new European Clean Industrial Deal will be key to her next term at the Commission in the half decade period to 2029.

This shows the political pivot that is currently underway in Brussels. Von der Leyen is determined not to lose the Green Deal legacy of her first five years in office, but knows the economic competitiveness context for her second term starting in late 2024, following the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is significantly different from the first.

The new Clean Industrial Deal represents a potentially bold vision for the European Union’s sustainable industrial growth. As von der Leyen has asserted, “From wind to steel, from batteries to electric vehicles, our ambition is unmistakable: the future of our cleantech industry has to be made in Europe.”