On 18 July, Ursula von der Leyen was elected by the European Parliament President of the European Commission for a second mandate, which spans from 2024 to 2029. She outlined her political guidelines, that open with a new plan for Europe's sustainable properity and competitiveness.

These guidelines emphasise simplifying regulatory frameworks, fostering innovation, ensuring competitiveness, and supporting transitions to a green and digital economy, reflecting Ursula von der Leyen's vision for a more efficient, resilient, and unified European Internal Market​.

Discover below some highlights:

Making Business Easier

• Completion of the Single Market: A renewed effort to complete the Single Market in sectors like services, energy, defence, finance, electronic communications, and digital.
• Competition Policy: A new approach to competition policy that supports companies scaling up in global markets while ensuring a level playing field. This includes reassessing mergers to consider innovation and resilience.
• Reducing Administrative Burdens: Prioritising speed, coherence, and simplification in all actions. Each Commissioner is tasked with reducing administrative burdens and simplifying implementation, which includes less red tape, better enforcement, and faster permitting. Regular dialogues with stakeholders will be held to align implementation with ground realities.
• EU-wide Legal Status for Innovative Companies: Proposal for a new EU-wide legal status, the "28th regime," to provide a harmonised set of rules in certain areas to help innovative companies grow.
• SME and Competitiveness Check: Introduction of a new category for small midcaps and a new SME and competitiveness check.
• Better Lawmaking: A proposal to renew the Interinstitutional Agreement on simplification and better lawmaking, ensuring each institution assesses the impact and cost of its amendments. Commissioners will prepare annual progress reports to follow up on enforcement and implementation.

Clean Industrial Deal

• Industrial Decarbonisation Accelerator Act: Supporting industries through the transition with investments in infrastructure, energy-intensive sectors, and lead markets for clean tech. This includes speeding up related planning, tendering, and permitting processes.
• Clean Trade and Investment Partnerships: Establishing new partnerships to secure the supply of raw materials, clean energy, and clean tech globally.

Circular and Resilient Economy

• Circular Economy Act: Creating market demand for secondary materials and a single market for waste, focusing on critical raw materials.
• Chemicals Industry Package: Aiming to simplify REACH and provide clarity on “forever chemicals” (PFAS).
• Critical Medicines Act: Proposing a new act to address critical medicines.

Digital Technology and Innovation

• E-commerce Platforms: Addressing challenges with e-commerce platforms to ensure a level playing field with effective customs, tax, safety controls, and sustainability standards.
• Data Access: Improving open access to data for companies, especially SMEs, to fulfill reporting obligations.
• European Biotech Act: Proposal in 2025 to foster biotech innovation.

Investment and Productivity

• Investment Commission: Unlocking financing needed for green, digital, and social transitions by maximising public investment and leveraging private capital with the European Investment Bank.
• European Savings and Investments Union: Proposing a new union to leverage private savings for innovation and transitions.
• Public Procurement: Revising the Public Procurement Directive to favor European products in strategic sectors, modernising rules to benefit EU start-ups and innovators.
• European Competitiveness Fund: As part of a new budget proposal, this fund will invest in strategic technologies like AI, space, clean tech, and biotech, supporting Important Projects of Common Interest (IPCEIs).

Skills and Labor Market

• Union of Skills: Focusing on investment in adult and lifelong learning, skill retention, and recognition across the EU.
• Skills Portability Initiative: Ensuring skills acquired in one country are recognised across the EU.

DG GROW will take an active part in delivering these political guidelines and will continue informing about this endeavour after the summer break.