Costa, Von der Leyen and Metsola promise “a solid partnership” for Europe at the start of the new legislature

The presidents of the three main European institutions, Ursula von der Leyen (European Commission), Roberta Metsola (European Parliament) and António Costa (European Council) met this Monday for the first time to mark the beginning of the new legislature and show the commitment to form a “solid partnership” for Europe.

“This marks the beginning of a solid partnership for Europe. The challenges ahead will not be a walk in the park but, together, we can overcome them,” the three stated in a coordinated message that they published on their respective social networks after meet at the European Parliament headquarters in Brussels for more than an hour.

This Sunday was the official start of both the new Von der Leyen Executive, which begins a five-year mandate, and the presidency of the European Council for Costa, who takes over from former Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel for the next two and a half years .

The brief statement they have shared also points out that “Europeans expect results” from the new legislature, among which they have listed “good jobs, a healthy climate and a strong defense”, and have assured that “united” they will “deliver ” with the challenges.

Metsola, who began his own two-and-a-half-year term last July, received Costa and Von der Leyen in the park located next to the European Parliament and in a short walk to the institution they wanted to show the good harmony between the three with gestures of closeness and smiles.

In the previous legislature, Von der Leyen and the previous president of the European Council were involved in several disagreements and tensions due to their way of participating in European politics, with one of the most high-profile episodes known as ‘Sofagate’, when on a trip to Ankara to meet with the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the head of the Community Executive was displaced without a chair while Michel occupied the only one placed next to the Turkish president.

Michel later had to apologize for the diplomatic incident and in a session before the European Parliament he explained that he reacted in this way to avoid a major incident and assured that it would not happen again. Von der Leyen, for her part, made it clear that she did not believe that she would have been treated this way as a man and claimed to have felt “alone and hurt.”