Yesterday, the CDU Executive Committee unanimously nominated Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as the lead candidate of the Christian Democratic Party family EPP in the European elections. In the election campaign, von der Leyen wants to score points with her plan to strengthen the competitiveness of European companies. She also reiterated her proposal to appoint a separate Commissioner for Defense. Given the threat posed to Europe by Russia, she said it was necessary to better organize the Community’s defense industry. Markus Grabitz has the details.
Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann also believes that the Commission must expand European cooperation in security policy. However, the Chairwoman of the Defense Committee in the Bundestag criticized von der Leyen. She should have prioritized security much earlier and thus made better use of the time without Trump in the White House, Strack-Zimmermann said at a Table.Media event. She called for an EU security summit to send a clear signal to the member states. Read Till Hoppe’s Analysis to find out what else she hopes to gain from the Weimar Triangle.
TikTok is particularly popular with younger people. However, the platform not only provides entertaining dance trends, it has also been criticized for some time due to potential risks for users. TikTok is now facing proceedings by the EU Commission under the Digital Services Act. Read more in the News.
We wish you a successful day.
The CDU Executive Committee has unanimously nominated Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as the lead candidate of the Christian Democratic Party family EPP in the European elections. In the event of her re-election, her central project will be to strengthen the competitiveness of companies in Europe. Von der Leyen also insists on her proposal to appoint a separate Commissioner for Defense. “There is already a Commissioner for the internal market and industrial policy who is also responsible for defense”, said the 65-year-old.
Given the threat posed to Europe by Russia, it was necessary to better organize the Community’s defense industry in the future. However, she did not want to dispute the member states’ competences. “The member states are responsible for organizing their armed forces.” She does not want to change this. The future Commissioner for Defence would, for example, be responsible for organizing the common defense fund of the member states.
Von der Leyen is to be elected as the lead candidate of the European Christian Democrat party family at the EPP Congress in Bucharest on March 6-7. The prerequisite for this is that she is nominated by two other EPP member parties. The deadline is Feb. 21. The nomination of the other two EPP parties is considered a formality. Von der Leyen is not standing as a candidate for the European Parliament, for which she has been sharply criticized by Green MEPs. It is irritating that von der Leyen will not appear anywhere on the ballot paper, said Rasmus Andresen, spokesperson for the German Green delegation in the European Parliament.
Von der Leyen’s plans focus on strengthening the competitiveness of European companies. “We must adapt the competitiveness of industry to the new conditions.” With the funds from the NextGenerationEU recovery fund, it was possible to avert a recession in the EU economy after the pandemic and to realign the EU economy to the necessary restructuring as part of the Green Deal.
When it comes to reducing bureaucracy and strengthening competitiveness, she is looking forward to working with the Commission’s designated SME Envoy, Markus Pieper (CDU). She stands by the Commission’s promise to reduce reporting obligations for companies by 25 percent and to subject new legislative proposals to a review to determine whether they impair the competitiveness of companies.
Her willingness to run for the office of Commission President for a second time is also driven by her concern for democracy: “I want to defend the success of the EU against divisions from within and without.”
CDU party leader Friedrich Merz said after the nomination: “Ursula von der Leyen’s candidacy is linked to two messages.” On the one hand, she stands for the promise to “give people security in a comprehensive sense“. The second is that “the EU must secure prosperity”. The CDU and CSU will run for the European elections with a joint party program. The program commission is to hold its final meeting today, Tuesday, and the program is to be adopted on March 11 in a joint presidium meeting of the two sister parties.
However, one point of contention is emerging between the lead candidate and the two sister parties. The CDU and CSU will go into the European elections with the demand to reverse the EU’s decision to ban combustion engines in new cars from 2035. According to information from Table.Media, von der Leyen initially stated at the CDU presidium meeting on the eve of the nomination that the EU had not decided on a total ban on combustion engines. When there were objections from participants, it was said that the Commission had already submitted a proposal to avert the ban on combustion engines.
The fact is, however, that the decision was made to end the registration of vehicles with combustion engines in 2035. In addition, there is no EU decision on the registration of cars powered exclusively by climate-neutral fuels from 2035. The legal text merely states that the EU’s CO2 fleet legislation will be reviewed by the Commission in 2026. This would be an opportunity to revise the ban on combustion engines. The CDU and CSU are therefore eagerly awaiting to see how von der Leyen, as the lead candidate in the election campaign, will deal with the central demand of the parties nominating her.
The lead candidates of the SPD and Greens are calling on the Christian Democratic party family to clearly reject cooperation with right-wing populist parties in the next European Parliament. The Green Party’s Terry Reintke, who is also the lead candidate of her party family at EU level, asks the following question concerning von der Leyen and the EPP: “Will they work together with authoritarian and far-right forces that want to scrap climate protection, social security, and democracy?” Or: “Will they work with pro-European forces to build a secure, sustainable, and democratic future?”
Katarina Barley, who heads the list of German Social Democrats, said: “While the Union in Germany rules out any cooperation with the AfD, it is keeping the option open in the European Parliament to enter into strategic alliances with the right-wing populists and extremists.” This is often precisely against von der Leyen’s plans. “This even includes von der Leyen’s prestigious Green Deal project.” With dpa
Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, Chair of the Bundestag’s Defense Committee, is calling for a European security conference at the highest political level given the threat posed by Russia. The EU heads of state and government should discuss the pressing issues of European security and defense policy in order to send a “clear commitment to their countries”, she said on Monday at an event organized by Table.Media and the European Movement Germany. “We now have a historic responsibility and we will have to justify to ourselves one day whether we have heard the gong, whether we are ready to really commit.”
The FDP lead candidate for the European elections believes that the Weimar Triangle of Germany, France and Poland has a particular responsibility in this regard. “Someone has to get on the engine of this train and get going”, she said. Then the other European states would follow suit. Europeans have been discussing taking more responsibility for their own security for a long time, but too little has happened so far.
Jana Puglierin, Senior Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, believes Berlin has a duty: “It is absolutely imperative that the German government does everything it can to make cooperation with Poland work,” she said. Franco-German cooperation in defense is often difficult, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk can mediate here. “This three-way constellation is good for everyone involved.”
At the Munich Security Conference this weekend, Chancellor Olaf Scholz once again called on the other EU states to provide Ukraine with more weapons and to do more for common security in Europe. Scholz has found allies here in the Baltic and Scandinavian states, says Puglierin. These countries, which traditionally rely heavily on the USA as a security guarantor, are prepared to expand European cooperation.
Strack-Zimmermann also sees the EU Commission as having a duty. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Monday that she would be running for a second term in office and that she wanted to make security policy one of her priorities. Strack-Zimmermann criticized, however, that the CDU politician “did not take up the issue much earlier and did not use this Trump-free time”. It was obvious that von der Leyen was “acting based on logic: now you can talk about it without doing any harm”. Previously, she had preferred not to talk about weapons and had already avoided being photographed in front of armed fighter jets as Federal Minister of Defense.
The FDP politician assumes that the Commission President will ultimately leave the issue to others. Von der Leyen has already announced that in a possible second term of office, she will create the remit of a Defense Commissioner.
In Berlin, however, the proposal has met with skepticism for the time being, as defense policy is the sovereignty of the member states. “We would first have to consider what the point of such a commissioner post would be,” said government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit. From Chancellor Scholz’s point of view, the first step would be for the EU defense ministers to have their own regular council.
Von der Leyen, however, has in mind that a Defense Commissioner should primarily take care of the interests of the arms industry. According to the EU treaties, the Commission has a say here.
The Commission is expected to present a new strategy for the defense industry (European Defence Industrial Strategy – EDIS) and a procurement program, the European Defence Investment Programme (EDIP), on March 5. The aim is to encourage Member States to order more military equipment jointly and also from European manufacturers. The authority is concerned that many armaments orders go to foreign manufacturers, for example from the USA or Israel.
Von der Leyen therefore wants to create financial incentives: If several defense ministries join forces, they should receive a grant from the EU budget. The funds for this could come from the European Defense Fund, which was allocated an extra €1.5 billion until 2027 in the latest budget negotiations. The European Peace Facility could also be tapped into for this purpose. This has so far been used to compensate EU states for arms deliveries to Ukraine.
In addition, von der Leyen has announced that she wants to give manufacturers planning security for investments through purchase guarantees. This should help companies to expand their production capacities in Europe. Strack-Zimmermann believes this is the right approach: manufacturers need reliable orders. But the industry cannot demand 20-year plans. “Of course, I expect an industry that earns real money to take risks.”
ECFR expert Jana Puglierin is in favor of consolidation in the industry to bundle forces. However, as many companies are state-owned, they cannot be left to market forces. “The member states must be on board and be prepared to do so.” One prerequisite would also be to harmonize the different strict arms export guidelines of the member states to a greater extent.
Puglierin is also calling for more EU funds to be mobilized for the defense industry, at least in the new financial period from 2028. However, Strack-Zimmermann refused to talk about new debt-financed EU pots at this stage, as suggested by Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and French President Emmanuel Macron.
The FDP politician said that a needs analysis was needed first. “And then we look at the price and then we have to discuss whether this can be taken from the current budget, possibly at the expense of other wishes. Or do we have to make other proposals?” Making new pots of debt available straight away would run the risk of the money being wasted.
Intentions are important, but actions are crucial. The European Green Deal is the EU’s central instrument for achieving its climate goals. It aims to make the Union’s economy fairer, wealthier, and more sustainable. Recently, the European Commission announced its climate targets for 2040 – aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 90 percent.
While the EU sees itself as a leader in climate transformation, companies based here are seeking production opportunities outside Europe. Our supposed leadership in climate action is thus called into question. The Green Deal, primarily based on regulation, risks overwhelming companies with bureaucratic challenges and prohibitions. In contrast, countries like the United States primarily rely on incentives, such as initiatives like the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), to foster innovation and drive a more sustainable economy.
Europe must, therefore, intensify its efforts – and has two concrete levers to boost sustainable economic activities. This way, we can actively reduce emissions and build European champions in climate technology.
Business decisions on expansion, whether to build new factories, and creating new jobs are based on the economic viability of the project. It is, therefore, essential for the EU to follow this logic. The “deal” as part of the “Green Deal” must be implemented based on an attractive business model.
To make the deal a reality, the EU is introducing the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA), Europe’s answer to the IRA. It is a key initiative to reduce emissions and scale up green technologies. By speeding up approval processes and reducing bureaucracy, we enhance Europe’s competitiveness.
The NZIA is Europe’s first strong lever to drive a successful clean transition to climate neutrality. The agreement reached between the European Parliament and the Council on the NZIA covers a wide range of net-zero technologies. It is now crucial for EU lawmakers to swiftly approve this agreement.
A strong NZIA creates a lean and stable regulatory environment for businesses to develop accordingly.
The second key instrument for the EU to promote investments in clean technologies and thereby reduce emissions is taxonomy. However, its effectiveness in its current form is limited.
Firstly, the implementation of taxonomy is too complex, narrowly defined and slow. The relevant legal documents consist of over 600 pages of detailed criteria, making it difficult for companies to understand and implement the requirements. Furthermore, it only lists “successful” activities from the past, as innovation, by definition, cannot be part of such a list. We propose a continuous and rapid updating mechanism for the list to incorporate the latest clean innovations.
In Germany, as well as in Europe as a whole, we see companies scaling their solutions in the US and Asia due to more favorable conditions. A sustainable, competitive economy is Europe’s opportunity to combine ambitious climate action with strong economic performance.
We are convinced: Climate champions must emerge from Europe and translate excellent research into strong companies. The NZIA is a good example of how Europe must implement the Green Deal: Once in force, it will help companies scale and stimulate private investment.
Economic prosperity and jobs emerge where market conditions are favorable – this explicitly requires a simple, harmonized regulatory environment. The NZIA and taxonomy are two important levers for Europe – if we design them correctly.
Angelika Niebler is a Member of the European Parliament for the CSU and serves, among other roles, on the Committee on Industry, Research, and Energy of the European Parliament. Andreas Sichert is the CEO of Orcan Energy. The company offers modules that convert waste heat into electricity.
Yesterday, the CDU Executive Committee unanimously nominated Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as the lead candidate of the Christian Democratic Party family EPP in the European elections. In the election campaign, von der Leyen wants to score points with her plan to strengthen the competitiveness of European companies. She also reiterated her proposal to appoint a separate Commissioner for Defense. Given the threat posed to Europe by Russia, she said it was necessary to better organize the Community’s defense industry. Markus Grabitz has the details.
Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann also believes that the Commission must expand European cooperation in security policy. However, the Chairwoman of the Defense Committee in the Bundestag criticized von der Leyen. She should have prioritized security much earlier and thus made better use of the time without Trump in the White House, Strack-Zimmermann said at a Table.Media event. She called for an EU security summit to send a clear signal to the member states. Read Till Hoppe’s Analysis to find out what else she hopes to gain from the Weimar Triangle.
TikTok is particularly popular with younger people. However, the platform not only provides entertaining dance trends, it has also been criticized for some time due to potential risks for users. TikTok is now facing proceedings by the EU Commission under the Digital Services Act. Read more in the News.
We wish you a successful day.
The CDU Executive Committee has unanimously nominated Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as the lead candidate of the Christian Democratic Party family EPP in the European elections. In the event of her re-election, her central project will be to strengthen the competitiveness of companies in Europe. Von der Leyen also insists on her proposal to appoint a separate Commissioner for Defense. “There is already a Commissioner for the internal market and industrial policy who is also responsible for defense”, said the 65-year-old.
Given the threat posed to Europe by Russia, it was necessary to better organize the Community’s defense industry in the future. However, she did not want to dispute the member states’ competences. “The member states are responsible for organizing their armed forces.” She does not want to change this. The future Commissioner for Defence would, for example, be responsible for organizing the common defense fund of the member states.
Von der Leyen is to be elected as the lead candidate of the European Christian Democrat party family at the EPP Congress in Bucharest on March 6-7. The prerequisite for this is that she is nominated by two other EPP member parties. The deadline is Feb. 21. The nomination of the other two EPP parties is considered a formality. Von der Leyen is not standing as a candidate for the European Parliament, for which she has been sharply criticized by Green MEPs. It is irritating that von der Leyen will not appear anywhere on the ballot paper, said Rasmus Andresen, spokesperson for the German Green delegation in the European Parliament.
Von der Leyen’s plans focus on strengthening the competitiveness of European companies. “We must adapt the competitiveness of industry to the new conditions.” With the funds from the NextGenerationEU recovery fund, it was possible to avert a recession in the EU economy after the pandemic and to realign the EU economy to the necessary restructuring as part of the Green Deal.
When it comes to reducing bureaucracy and strengthening competitiveness, she is looking forward to working with the Commission’s designated SME Envoy, Markus Pieper (CDU). She stands by the Commission’s promise to reduce reporting obligations for companies by 25 percent and to subject new legislative proposals to a review to determine whether they impair the competitiveness of companies.
Her willingness to run for the office of Commission President for a second time is also driven by her concern for democracy: “I want to defend the success of the EU against divisions from within and without.”
CDU party leader Friedrich Merz said after the nomination: “Ursula von der Leyen’s candidacy is linked to two messages.” On the one hand, she stands for the promise to “give people security in a comprehensive sense“. The second is that “the EU must secure prosperity”. The CDU and CSU will run for the European elections with a joint party program. The program commission is to hold its final meeting today, Tuesday, and the program is to be adopted on March 11 in a joint presidium meeting of the two sister parties.
However, one point of contention is emerging between the lead candidate and the two sister parties. The CDU and CSU will go into the European elections with the demand to reverse the EU’s decision to ban combustion engines in new cars from 2035. According to information from Table.Media, von der Leyen initially stated at the CDU presidium meeting on the eve of the nomination that the EU had not decided on a total ban on combustion engines. When there were objections from participants, it was said that the Commission had already submitted a proposal to avert the ban on combustion engines.
The fact is, however, that the decision was made to end the registration of vehicles with combustion engines in 2035. In addition, there is no EU decision on the registration of cars powered exclusively by climate-neutral fuels from 2035. The legal text merely states that the EU’s CO2 fleet legislation will be reviewed by the Commission in 2026. This would be an opportunity to revise the ban on combustion engines. The CDU and CSU are therefore eagerly awaiting to see how von der Leyen, as the lead candidate in the election campaign, will deal with the central demand of the parties nominating her.
The lead candidates of the SPD and Greens are calling on the Christian Democratic party family to clearly reject cooperation with right-wing populist parties in the next European Parliament. The Green Party’s Terry Reintke, who is also the lead candidate of her party family at EU level, asks the following question concerning von der Leyen and the EPP: “Will they work together with authoritarian and far-right forces that want to scrap climate protection, social security, and democracy?” Or: “Will they work with pro-European forces to build a secure, sustainable, and democratic future?”
Katarina Barley, who heads the list of German Social Democrats, said: “While the Union in Germany rules out any cooperation with the AfD, it is keeping the option open in the European Parliament to enter into strategic alliances with the right-wing populists and extremists.” This is often precisely against von der Leyen’s plans. “This even includes von der Leyen’s prestigious Green Deal project.” With dpa
Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, Chair of the Bundestag’s Defense Committee, is calling for a European security conference at the highest political level given the threat posed by Russia. The EU heads of state and government should discuss the pressing issues of European security and defense policy in order to send a “clear commitment to their countries”, she said on Monday at an event organized by Table.Media and the European Movement Germany. “We now have a historic responsibility and we will have to justify to ourselves one day whether we have heard the gong, whether we are ready to really commit.”
The FDP lead candidate for the European elections believes that the Weimar Triangle of Germany, France and Poland has a particular responsibility in this regard. “Someone has to get on the engine of this train and get going”, she said. Then the other European states would follow suit. Europeans have been discussing taking more responsibility for their own security for a long time, but too little has happened so far.
Jana Puglierin, Senior Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, believes Berlin has a duty: “It is absolutely imperative that the German government does everything it can to make cooperation with Poland work,” she said. Franco-German cooperation in defense is often difficult, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk can mediate here. “This three-way constellation is good for everyone involved.”
At the Munich Security Conference this weekend, Chancellor Olaf Scholz once again called on the other EU states to provide Ukraine with more weapons and to do more for common security in Europe. Scholz has found allies here in the Baltic and Scandinavian states, says Puglierin. These countries, which traditionally rely heavily on the USA as a security guarantor, are prepared to expand European cooperation.
Strack-Zimmermann also sees the EU Commission as having a duty. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Monday that she would be running for a second term in office and that she wanted to make security policy one of her priorities. Strack-Zimmermann criticized, however, that the CDU politician “did not take up the issue much earlier and did not use this Trump-free time”. It was obvious that von der Leyen was “acting based on logic: now you can talk about it without doing any harm”. Previously, she had preferred not to talk about weapons and had already avoided being photographed in front of armed fighter jets as Federal Minister of Defense.
The FDP politician assumes that the Commission President will ultimately leave the issue to others. Von der Leyen has already announced that in a possible second term of office, she will create the remit of a Defense Commissioner.
In Berlin, however, the proposal has met with skepticism for the time being, as defense policy is the sovereignty of the member states. “We would first have to consider what the point of such a commissioner post would be,” said government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit. From Chancellor Scholz’s point of view, the first step would be for the EU defense ministers to have their own regular council.
Von der Leyen, however, has in mind that a Defense Commissioner should primarily take care of the interests of the arms industry. According to the EU treaties, the Commission has a say here.
The Commission is expected to present a new strategy for the defense industry (European Defence Industrial Strategy – EDIS) and a procurement program, the European Defence Investment Programme (EDIP), on March 5. The aim is to encourage Member States to order more military equipment jointly and also from European manufacturers. The authority is concerned that many armaments orders go to foreign manufacturers, for example from the USA or Israel.
Von der Leyen therefore wants to create financial incentives: If several defense ministries join forces, they should receive a grant from the EU budget. The funds for this could come from the European Defense Fund, which was allocated an extra €1.5 billion until 2027 in the latest budget negotiations. The European Peace Facility could also be tapped into for this purpose. This has so far been used to compensate EU states for arms deliveries to Ukraine.
In addition, von der Leyen has announced that she wants to give manufacturers planning security for investments through purchase guarantees. This should help companies to expand their production capacities in Europe. Strack-Zimmermann believes this is the right approach: manufacturers need reliable orders. But the industry cannot demand 20-year plans. “Of course, I expect an industry that earns real money to take risks.”
ECFR expert Jana Puglierin is in favor of consolidation in the industry to bundle forces. However, as many companies are state-owned, they cannot be left to market forces. “The member states must be on board and be prepared to do so.” One prerequisite would also be to harmonize the different strict arms export guidelines of the member states to a greater extent.
Puglierin is also calling for more EU funds to be mobilized for the defense industry, at least in the new financial period from 2028. However, Strack-Zimmermann refused to talk about new debt-financed EU pots at this stage, as suggested by Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and French President Emmanuel Macron.
The FDP politician said that a needs analysis was needed first. “And then we look at the price and then we have to discuss whether this can be taken from the current budget, possibly at the expense of other wishes. Or do we have to make other proposals?” Making new pots of debt available straight away would run the risk of the money being wasted.
Intentions are important, but actions are crucial. The European Green Deal is the EU’s central instrument for achieving its climate goals. It aims to make the Union’s economy fairer, wealthier, and more sustainable. Recently, the European Commission announced its climate targets for 2040 – aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 90 percent.
While the EU sees itself as a leader in climate transformation, companies based here are seeking production opportunities outside Europe. Our supposed leadership in climate action is thus called into question. The Green Deal, primarily based on regulation, risks overwhelming companies with bureaucratic challenges and prohibitions. In contrast, countries like the United States primarily rely on incentives, such as initiatives like the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), to foster innovation and drive a more sustainable economy.
Europe must, therefore, intensify its efforts – and has two concrete levers to boost sustainable economic activities. This way, we can actively reduce emissions and build European champions in climate technology.
Business decisions on expansion, whether to build new factories, and creating new jobs are based on the economic viability of the project. It is, therefore, essential for the EU to follow this logic. The “deal” as part of the “Green Deal” must be implemented based on an attractive business model.
To make the deal a reality, the EU is introducing the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA), Europe’s answer to the IRA. It is a key initiative to reduce emissions and scale up green technologies. By speeding up approval processes and reducing bureaucracy, we enhance Europe’s competitiveness.
The NZIA is Europe’s first strong lever to drive a successful clean transition to climate neutrality. The agreement reached between the European Parliament and the Council on the NZIA covers a wide range of net-zero technologies. It is now crucial for EU lawmakers to swiftly approve this agreement.
A strong NZIA creates a lean and stable regulatory environment for businesses to develop accordingly.
The second key instrument for the EU to promote investments in clean technologies and thereby reduce emissions is taxonomy. However, its effectiveness in its current form is limited.
Firstly, the implementation of taxonomy is too complex, narrowly defined and slow. The relevant legal documents consist of over 600 pages of detailed criteria, making it difficult for companies to understand and implement the requirements. Furthermore, it only lists “successful” activities from the past, as innovation, by definition, cannot be part of such a list. We propose a continuous and rapid updating mechanism for the list to incorporate the latest clean innovations.
In Germany, as well as in Europe as a whole, we see companies scaling their solutions in the US and Asia due to more favorable conditions. A sustainable, competitive economy is Europe’s opportunity to combine ambitious climate action with strong economic performance.
We are convinced: Climate champions must emerge from Europe and translate excellent research into strong companies. The NZIA is a good example of how Europe must implement the Green Deal: Once in force, it will help companies scale and stimulate private investment.
Economic prosperity and jobs emerge where market conditions are favorable – this explicitly requires a simple, harmonized regulatory environment. The NZIA and taxonomy are two important levers for Europe – if we design them correctly.
Angelika Niebler is a Member of the European Parliament for the CSU and serves, among other roles, on the Committee on Industry, Research, and Energy of the European Parliament. Andreas Sichert is the CEO of Orcan Energy. The company offers modules that convert waste heat into electricity.
