With a comfortable 461 votes in favour, 151 against and 89 abstentions, the European Parliament approved the new European Commission on the 27th of November.

Ursula von der Leyen, the new President of the European Commission, presented her team of Commissioners to an oddly half-empty hemicycle during the Plenary Session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg. 

CECOP wishes a fruitful work to the new College and we reiterate our demands to quality jobs, promotion of worker ownership, ambitious EU industrial strategy, SMEs development and social inclusion and our expectations toward the new Commission in these domains. To do so, cooperatives in industry and services look forward to working together with Commissioners for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit, for Internal Market, Thierry Breton and for An Economy that Works for the People, Valdis Dombrovskis to promote entrepreneurial diversity in Europe, fight for quality jobs and social justice.

In particular, Commissioner Nicolas Schmit, taking the floor at the European Day of Social Economy Enterprises in Strasbourg the same day, stated: “Social Economy enterprises need to be at the core of the ecological transition and social innovation […] we need to open new sources of financing for social economy enterprises”. He also reiterated the importance of re-establishing the Social Economy Intergroup in the European Parliament and the benefits of an enhanced cooperation with Commissioner Breton (and his Directorate-General) on social economy topics.