Strasbourg, France, 27 November 2024 (dpa/MIA) - The European Parliament on Wednesday backed the new European Commission in a majority vote.

The team of 26 commissioners is to start work on December 1 under the leadership of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who was re-elected in July.

European Union lawmakers in the French city of Strasbourg confirmed the new commission with 370 votes in favour, 282 votes against and 36 abstentions.

Conservative and centrist parliamentarians largely supported von der Leyen's team, while far-right and leftist groups voted mainly against.

The new commission still needs to be approved by the member states, but the step is considered a formality.

The powerful executive is the only EU institution that can propose new laws, which are then debated by the European Parliament and EU member states.

However, the incoming commissioners are likely to face major economic and geopolitical challenges over the course of their five-year term.

Von der Leyen's new team is to focus on economic and security issues as the bloc struggles to remain economically competitive with China and the United States, while rearming in the face of Russian revanchism.

Ahead of the vote, von der Leyen pledged to make improving the bloc's competitiveness one of the first priorities of her second mandate in a speech to EU lawmakers.

"Our freedom and sovereignty depend more than ever on our economic strength," she said.

"Our security depends on our ability to compete, to innovate, and to produce. Our social model depends on a growing economy while facing demographic change," she said.

There will be a "joint plan for decarbonization and competitiveness," von der Leyen said, aiming to balance the EU's climate commitments against business concerns around bureaucracy.

The commission president also urged higher defence expenditure in the coming years.

"Russia is spending up to 9% of its GDP [gross domestic product] on defence. Europe is spending on average 1.9%. There is something wrong in this equation," she said, ahead of the vote.

"Our defence spending must increase," von der Leyen added. "War is raging on Europe’s borders ... We have no time to waste, and we must be as ambitious as the threats are serious."

Wednesday's confirmation vote came almost six months after the European elections in June and followed weeks of political wrangling between member states and political factions in the European Parliament.

Photo: EBS