Thank you to Women in Leadership, thanks Thaima, and a very good afternoon to all of you.

Thanks for inviting me.

I have been a European Commissioner for 6 months and before that a national politician for many years. My career began as a lawyer in the private sector. Over the years, Ive done many different things, but one thing Ive come to truly value is the importance of networks.

Networks bring a sense of unity, provide contacts, and offer new career opportunities. They can open doors we thought were closed. Your network is broad and not limited to a single sector, and thats wonderful.

You have a talent program for future female leaders, and its great to see so many young faces.

Lets now turn to todays program topic: Europe in a changing world. I am the Commissioner for environment, water resilience, and a competitive circular economy. Each part of this title has a reason, and Ill explain why.

We need to talk about what we can control, like our competitiveness and the Single Market. To be strong internationally, we need to be strong at home.

My policies can contribute to Europes competitiveness by promoting a healthy environment, shifting from linear production to a circular economy, and enhancing water resilience.

We must use our resources smarter, recycle and reuse more, and keep our raw materials in the value chain for as long as possible. This reduces our reliance on imports.

I am also working on a Water Resilience Strategy to repair the broken water cycle and the bioeconomy, which has great potential.

The bioeconomy includes biotechnology, sustainable use of biomass, and promising sectors like biochemicals and bioplastics.

We must collaborate, as nature degradation and climate change do not stop at the EUs borders. Thats why Im working on a global plastics treaty to reduce pollution.

There are opportunities among challenges, and I believe there is no contradiction between competitiveness and high environmental standards.

Thanks for having me and for bringing this network together.