In the last debate before the European parliamentary election, incumbent European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen faced off against four other contenders on a range of issues.
The European Union (EU) will hold elections from June 6–9, during which citizens of each of the 27 nations in the EU will elect their representatives to the European Parliament for a five-year term.
Each of the 27 EU member countries will nominate a candidate whose European political party has won the most seats. The parliament must approve the nominee by an absolute majority. If the nominee does not get enough votes, the countries must put forward another candidate.
Two European right-wing parties, the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and Identity and Democracy, decided not to nominate their lead candidates for the commission presidency, so they did not participate in the debate.
The ECR said in a statement that it was never “in favor” of the lead candidate system and the system “was never fit.”
The incumbent’s party, the European People’s Party, is a center-right party, while the parties that nominated the four other candidates ranged from center and left-of-center to left-wing.
The four other candidates currently hold various offices in the EU.
The Incumbent
Ms. von der Leyen is a German physician and politician who has served as the commission’s president since 2019. Before that, she served as Germany’s defense minister and held various positions in the German federal and local governments. She was also a member of the German parliament.On the issue of jobs and the economy, Ms. von der Leyen placed great importance on fighting poverty.
She touted the minimum wage already implemented in the EU to counter poverty. Ms. von der Leyen also talked about the EU’s plans to improve housing, stating that the EU will invest 81 billion euros (about $88 billion) in the renovation of houses and 21 billion euros (about $22.8 billion) in social housing.
Regarding defense and security, the commission president said the EU needs to support Ukraine because it is a democracy fighting against autocracy. She also stressed the need for the EU to ramp up its defense spending.
Defense can be founded on the national level or the European level, Ms. von der Leyen said. She said she believes it is time to fund it at the European level, and the member states and the parliament should focus on such funding.
The Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack on Israel was horrible, Ms. von der Leyen said, acknowledging that “Israel has the right to defend itself.”
“But it has to do this in line with international humanitarian law,” she said.
Because the situation in Gaza is catastrophic, the EU has quadrupled its humanitarian aid to the region and continues to pay the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, according to Ms. von der Leyen.
Earlier this year, several countries paused their funding for the agency because of Israeli allegations that a number of its employees were involved in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack.
The incumbent also stressed that the two-state solution is the only solution for Israel and the Palestinians.
When explaining her position on illegal immigration, Ms. von der Leyen expressed her support for extending protection to asylum seekers but stressed that decisions about who enters the EU and under what circumstances must belong to the EU, not to the smugglers and traffickers.
She said the EU also needs “legal pathways for safe and secure ways to come to the European Union,” but those “not eligible for asylum have to go back home.”
European Left
Walter Baier, nominated by the European Left party, is an economist in Austria who holds a doctorate from the University of Vienna. He has been the president of the European Left (EL) since December 2022. Previously, Mr. Baier was a coordinator of the network of 36 organizations from 22 European countries that identify with the political foundation of the EL. From 1994 to 2006, Mr. Baier was the national chairman of the Communist Party of Austria.When addressing the economic issue, Mr. Baier emphasized the issue of poverty.
“One of the main reasons for poverty is the increase of housing prices and rents,” he said.
The EU should oblige its member countries “to put rent caps and to forbid evictions,” Mr. Baier said.
When discussing defense and security, he said that “the most urgent threat to security is the ecological disaster.” For this reason, the EU should prioritize “political solutions to the conflicts” instead of spending huge amounts of money on defense.
Europe needs disarmament, peace, and stability, Mr. Baier said. He urged the cancellation of Ukraine’s debt, stating that the country is fighting for values commonly shared by the EU.
Party of European Socialists
Nicolas Schmit, nominated by the Party of European Socialists, is a politician from Luxembourg who has been a European commissioner for jobs and social rights since 2019. He previously was a member of the European Parliament and held ministerial positions in Luxembourg’s government.When discussing the economy and jobs, Mr. Schmit stressed the importance of improving the daily living conditions of European citizens.
“We need to give them decent wages, good working conditions. ... quality jobs to women. We have to ensure equality is [applied] in the labor world,” he said.
“The minimum wage is one of the great achievements to give people decent wages all over Europe.”
On the issue of defense, Mr. Schmit stressed the need for bold support for Ukraine.
“If we are not supporting Ukraine boldly, the Russians will be directly at our borders. They have transformed their economy into a war economy,” he warned.
He said he supports peace but not on the conditions dictated by Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Regarding climate policies, Mr. Schmit maintained that “the right climate policy can enhance a new type of sustainable growth” and will not affect economic growth.
To achieve that, the EU needs huge investments to transform and decarbonize its industry, agriculture, and people’s daily lives, he said.
Renew Europe Now
Sandro Gozi, nominated by Renew Europe Now, is an Italian politician and a member of the European Parliament. He previously was an adviser to a former French prime minister, an Italian undersecretary of state, and a member of the Italian Parliament.When speaking on the topic of defense and security, Mr. Gozi called for 100 billion euros to develop and boost a European defense industry.
However, defense and security go hand in hand with education and knowledge, he said. Therefore, Mr. Gozi said, “for every euro that you spend on defense, you must add one euro for catch-up education and knowledge.”
“Either you’re powerful to sit at the table and to define your interest, or you'll find yourself in the menu decided in Beijing and Washington,” he said.
On the issue of illegal immigration, Mr. Gozi stressed the need to support economic immigration.
European Greens
Terry Reintke, nominated by the European Greens, is a German politician and has been a member of the European Parliament since 2014. She previously held offices in national and international political parties and trade unions.Speaking on economic issues, Ms. Reintke emphasized that there is no contradiction between climate and economy.
“In order to be economically successful and competitive in the future ... we need to really push for the possibilities ... in the green economy,” she said.
Regarding the EU’s defense and security, Ms. Reintke said that there are “too many only nationally focused projects.” She proposed the creation of a defense fund at the EU level.
Ms. Reintke also called for the end of the unanimity voting rule in the European Council, an EU body made up of 27 leaders of member countries, “when it comes to foreign and security policy.” To illustrate her point, she gave an example of Hungary, whose leader used the veto power when voting in the European Council.
Regarding defense and security, Ms. Reintke said that “the biggest threat to our security ... is the rise of the far right.” She blamed “far-right politicians” for trying to “destabilize” the union and accused them of cooperating with Russia and China to try to “undermine” the EU’s interests.
“Europe has to resist this far-right threat,” Ms. Reintke said.
When discussing climate policies, she said that the agriculture policy needs to be revamped because the farmers cannot live off what they’re producing anymore. She proposed a change in the subsidies’ distribution system.
The EU also needs massive investment in infrastructure to make the transition to climate neutrality possible, Ms. Reintke said.
In addition to tackling climate change, the EU needs a “circular economy,” which can be achieved through recycling resources, thus reducing the dependence on raw materials imported from other countries, she said.
The ETS is an EU system that requires those that generate carbon emissions to pay for them. The system imposes a limit on greenhouse gases emitted by the system participants. Companies covered by the system can buy emission allowances on the EU carbon market and trade them with other companies as needed.
If a company reduces its emissions, it can either keep the spare allowances to use in the future or sell them, according to the EU’s website.
To make the European Green Deal a success, Ms. Reintke recommended getting people involved in the green transition; she touted Germany’s project to build small solar panels on balconies.
People can see that they’re producing their own electricity, which is good for the climate and their pockets, Ms. Reintke said, and these small steps can bring all people on board with the Green Deal.
She also said she supports immigration.
“We are an aging continent; we will need migration if we want to sustain our hospitals, if we want to be economically successful. But we need to talk about how we can manage migration; we need to create legal pathways,” Ms. Reintke said.
“We need a resilient asylum system so that we make sure that the chaos on our external borders ends.”
