Our reaction to Ursula von der Leyen's new Commission

Today, Ursula von der Leyen unveiled the structure and portfolios of the 2024-2029 European Commission.

Our Director-General Cecilia Bonefeld-Dahl said:

“Congratulations to President Von Der Leyen and her new top team. As the Draghi report showed, the next five years will be crucial to get Europe back into the Champions League of global tech players.

Henna Virkunnen will be an excellent digital Commissioner – she is strong, knowledgeable, and from a small, open, and resilient member state that understands the realities of the tech ecosystem today. Linking digital with security is a great decision – the war in Ukraine has shown us that mastering critical technologies is indispensable to keeping us safe.

We are convinced that Mr. Dombrovskis is the right choice to lead the vital implementation and simplification work, but he will need a strong team and resources to stop the Commission from going back to ‘business as usual’: adding more regulations instead of building on our existing strengths.

On the Single Market, we hope that Minister Séjourné will use his international experience to help businesses in Europe and from our like-minded partners to fall back in love with the single market. Let’s measure success by the number of CEOs choosing to invest and grow in Europe.

Overall we think it’s a strong team. Europe needs a united Commission, all pulling together in the same direction that can bring the Member States along with them. Only by working as one team can we close the critical tech gap and make Europe a digital powerhouse once again.”

Snap analysis

DIGITALEUROPE supports the focus on competitiveness as an overarching concept for the new term. We are pleased with the choice of digital Commissioner, and the explicit link to security in her role description. For the first time, we have a Commissioner to cut red tape, not just add to it. This is a big positive, but they will have plenty of work to do because the instructions for each Commissioner still include lots of new legislation – notably on data, cloud, and AI. 

Headlines for our digital priorities

• Henna Virkunnen from Finland is nominated EVP for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy. Ms Virkunnen is a former MEP who worked closely on the Cyber Resilience Act. This portfolio links the digital agenda with the defence agenda for the first time, as we suggested in our recent paper. 

• Ms Virkunnen’s digital mission letter shows she will be responsible for cybersecurity, promoting digital competitiveness and reaching the 2030 digital decade targets, connectivity, and creating the European Defence Union. 

• In terms of digital legislation, she will work on the European Democracy Shield, a European Data Union Strategy, an EU AI and Cloud Development Act amongst others, as well as the implementation of the current digital rulebook. More details about these new laws are not yet known. 

• Valdis Dombrovsksis from Latvia will also play a crucial role in cutting the legislative burden, as he is responsible for Implementation and Simplifcation.  

• Stéphane Séjourné from France takes over from Thierry Breton as responsible Commissioner for Industrial Strategy and Single Market. This role will oversee many important policy areas like standardization, critical raw materials, SMEs, and public procurement.