Henna Virkkunen’s praise for the good work – the EU Parliament approved the new commission

The European Parliament approved on Wednesday in Strasbourg Ursula von der Leyenin 2nd Commission votes 370-282.

After the approval received now, the parliament will be able to start its work on December 1.

Among the Finnish MPs, the coalition MPs voted for the new commission Aura Salla, Mika Aaltola, Pekka Toveri and Henna VirkkunenSDP:n mepit Eero Heinäluoma and Maria Guzenina as well as the center’s MEPs Elsi Katainen and Katri Kulmuni. Also the green ones Ville Niinistö yes RKP:n Anna-Maja Henriksson gave the green light to the commission.

All left-wing MPs voted against the commission; Lee Andersson, Merja Kyllönen and Jussi Saramo, and the greens Maria Ohisalo and basic Finns Sebastian Tynkkynen.

In his speech in the parliament, the member of the Basic Finns criticized the current commission for “catastrophic failures” and hoped that it would not get a sequel.

In other critical speeches of the EU Parliament, the new commission was criticized for being far-right, corrupt, hypocritical, belligerent and anti-Russian, among other things.

The new commission will undoubtedly be more right-wing than previous commissions have been. Almost half of the 27 commissioners represent centre-right parties. In addition, one of the commissioners represents the conservative right and one the far right.

Safety and competitiveness

Before the Parliament’s vote, Ursula von der Leyen introduced the new Commissioners and their duties to the Parliament.

von der Leyen, who is starting his second term as president, said that he will build his new commission’s “competitiveness compass” on three pillars.

The first pillar is bridging Europe’s innovation gap. The key is to close the gap with the United States and China.

According to the chairman of the commission, strengthening competitiveness and innovation, especially in new cutting-edge technology sectors, is important for Europe.

“I don’t know of a better person to lead this than the vice president Henna Virkkunen”, von der Leyen sanoi.

“He leaves no stone unturned to ensure that Europe can use digital technology to strengthen its success, innovation and help keep people safe,” von der Leyen praised Virkkunen’s guts.

Climate work continues

The second pillar in the focus of the new commission’s work is the strengthening of low-carbon promotion and competitiveness.

The chairman of the commission promised that the goals of Europe’s green transition will not be abandoned, but that the needs of industry and people will be taken into account better than before.

The third key pillar of the new commission is strengthening financial security. It includes, among other things, securing the supply of critical raw materials.

In recent years, the EU has been too dependent on Russian fossil energy, the same development is now threatening China.

“We cannot rely on one supplier, and we will not make the same mistake again. Europe’s sovereignty must not be at risk,” von der Leyen said.

The chairman of the commission also mentioned the president in connection with the security pillar Sauli Niinistön report, which the new commission plans to use as a basis for strengthening Europe’s security and resilience.