On 16 September, the head of the European Commission, President Ms Ursula von der Leyen, delivered her first State of the European Union Address. Ms von der Leyen set out the priorities the Commission intends to pursue in the coming year.

An important point from her announcement is the green transition of the economy. President von der Leyen mentioned the Green Deal as part of efforts to ensure that Europe gets back on its feet. The NextGenerationEU is part of the recovery measures proposed by the Commission to respond to the current crisis. The EUR 750 billion instrument is based on three pillars:

• Support Member States to recover, repair and emerge stronger from the crisis
• Boost private investment and support ailing companies
• Reinforce key EU programmes to make the single market more robust and more resilient, and to accelerate the digital and green transition.

In her speech, President von der Leyen mentioned that 37% of NextGenerationEU would be spent directly on European Green Deal objectives.

"I want NextGenerationEU to kickstart a European renovation wave and make our Union a leader in the circular economy. But this is not just an environmental or economic project: it needs to be a new cultural project for Europe", said Ms von der Leyen.