Today, the President of the European Parliament David Sassoli hosted a ceremony in the House of European History, welcoming the incoming President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel, both of which officially take office today, as well as European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde. Together, the four Presidents marked the beginning of a new chapter for Europe while at the same time celebrating the 10th anniversary of the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty.
Although David Sassoli has been given the top job of President of the European Parliament, the Italian politician is still unable to speak English.
Due to that, please find a transcript (in English) of his speech:
Mister Sassoli said:
“Today we are together for the first time, the Presidents of the three EU institutions and the European Central Bank to mark the inauguration of the new Commission and the Council.
“We meet here at the House of European History because it is the right place to relaunch the European project. A project that will take the initiative to modernise European democracy, making it more efficient, and develop new European policies.
The President stressed the need to bring citizens closer to decision making and to strengthen European democracy:
“This reinforced role of representative democracy is precisely what has taken place over the last two months, through the hearings of all the new Commission candidates, making sure they are ready for the work ahead.
Sassoli called on the institutions to deliver on the promises made during the past months:
“It is now time to act. Parliament is ready to work as one team with you to continue building Europe. We need to turn the promises of the past few months into results that improve people's lives. From the fight against climate change to tackling the rise in the cost of living, Europeans want to see real action.
“President Ursula Van der Leyen asked Parliament last week to support a new start for Europe. The fact that the four institutions are here together today symbolizes this new start.
The President concluded by giving an outlook on priorities for this new chapter:
“On 11 December, the Commission will present to Parliament, in an extraordinary session, its proposals to limit the ecological damage within the Union, through the "new Green deal". Alongside this, we are already working on the preparation of a Conference on Democracy in Europe.”
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