The von der Leyen Commission:One year on

Abstract

One year ago, the von der Leyen Commission made Europe a promise: we promised to be bold and daring, whenever we saw the need for action at European level . In the early days of the mandate, the new Commission set a new and ambitious course for the European Union .We presented the European Green Deal and its first building blocks, putting our Union on the path towards climate neutrality . We came up with a package to make Europe a global leader in digital innovation. We presented an industrial strategy to define a new way forward for industry in Europe during the green and digital transition . In a fast-changing geopolitical context, Europe needs to transform its economy towards a green and digital future, and to strengthen its competitiveness on the global stage . We therefore created the most ambitious roadmap possible towards these goals .Then came the coronavirus pandemic – with the human tragedy, the lockdowns and the economic backlash. This crisis called for a truly European response, and we have responded with the greatest collective mobilisation in our Union’s history. At first, the Commission worked to organise a concerted and coordinated European response to the emergency – procuring and distributing protective equipment, repatriating stranded Europeans and securing doses of a future vaccine . This was uncharted territory for the European Union: we reacted boldly when our citizens’ health and safety called for EU action