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The first woman ever to lead the Commission secured a strong majority in favour of her “outstanding” and “almost” gender-balanced team, the first without a UK member, after delivering a speech in a semi-vacant hemicycle in Strasbourg, traditionally full for the big occasions.
Von der Leyen embraced the spirit of the Czech Velvet Revolution and said that for her, Europe “is not about parties or politics, rules or regulations, markets or currencies,” but it is “ultimately and above all else – about people and their aspirations.”
“Work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed,” the Commission president said, quoting Vaclav Havel.
“Over the next five years, our Union will embark together on a transformation, which will touch every part of our society and economy. And we will do it because it is the right thing to do. Not because it will be easy,” von der Leyen said.
A little bit more at ease than in July, when she was nominated by the European Council to succeed Jean-Claude Juncker at the head of the Commission, von der Leyen largely stuck to the script, with one exception – Brexit. [...]
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