Letter of Congratulations from President Jahier to Ms von der Leyen, President-elect of the European Commission

Dear Ms von der Leyen, dear President elect,

On behalf of the members of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and myself, please allow me to extend our warmest congratulations on your election as President of the European Commission and to express our best wishes for a successful mandate.

It was with great interest that I have listened to your speech in the European Parliament and in particular your agenda for Europe, in which you've included numerous initiatives which are especially close to the hearts of the EESC members, to name just a few: a Sustainable Europe Investment Plan, a Green Deal for Europe, gender equality, and many more. As always, you can expect from us well-balanced and informative opinions on all the draft law, based on our members close ties to the European civil society organizations. You can also count on the Committee's assistance and significant experience in organizing of the Conference on the Future of Europe in order to engage civil society in a dialogue.

The EESC firmly believes that it is high time for the EU to embrace and implement an ambitious sustainable agenda which requires a shift in our mindsets. In our "Sibiu" opinion earlier this year, we presented our vision for the EU to become a global leader in sustainable development calling for a new strategy, which takes a holistic and cross-sector policy approach centered on the European needs and sustainability to ensure that economic, social and environmental challenges are addressed jointly.

In this respect, I would like to assure you that the European civil society is united, more than ever in supporting the European project, its values and achievements. We remain fully committed to working together with you and the European Commission in this fundamental quest for a more democratic and more efficient Union.

I very much look forward to continuing the excellent cooperation between our institutions and would be very happy if you could attend and speak at one of our upcoming plenary sessions.

If wish you the best success for the coming years and assure you of my highest consideration.

Sincerely yours,

Luca Jahier

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