CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “We recognise that Ursula von der Leyen managed to unite a broad front of MEPs from across large parts of the party spectrum in the European Parliament to support her. This is a remarkable achievement. As CESI, the European Confederation of Independent Trade Unions, we congratulate her on her election. As independent unions, we hope that the incoming Commission will duly prioritise the needs of workers and employees as well as unions and social partners. In times of political and socio-economic transformations, nobody must be left behind – and least so workers and their families, the backbone of our economies and societies.”

He added: “The war in Ukraine, climate change policies and industrial competitiveness in the wake of digitalisation will likely be dominating issues of the new European Commission. We stress however that further, decisive measures are necessary to make green and digital transitions fair. Beyond this, we must continue to fight for decent work and against precarious work. Indeed, we need an economy that works for the people – and not the other way round. We also stress that we need adequate investments in public services to benefit the most vulnerable members of societies and to be ready for them to face new crises that may emerge at any time.”

Klaus Heeger concluded: “As independent unions, we hope that Ursula von der Leyen will also make it priority to advance effective trade union pluralism to enable inclusive social dialogue at the EU level on a level-playing field for and with all representative trade union organisations.”

Further details about demands of CESI for the new term are mapped in CESI’s EU 2024 elections manifesto, which can be accessed here.