Von der Leyen: New EU Commission to focus more on economy, security

The new European Commission line-up is to focus on the issues of competitiveness and security, shifting away from tackling the climate crisis as the top priority.

"Last time, the topic of global warming was absolutely top," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, as she presented her team of commissioner nominees at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

"The dominance of the topic is still there," she added, mentioning recent devastating floods and wildfires.

"But this time, for example, the topic of security triggered by the Russian war in Ukraine, but also the topic of competitiveness has much more impact" on the organization of her team, von der Leyen said.

"It reflects a lot the time we live in," she added.