Speech by President von der Leyen at the inauguration ceremony for the David Maria Sassoli building of the European Parliament

President Metsola, dear Roberta,

Excellencies,

Cara Alessandra, Giulio and Livia, 

David Sassoli was a true custodian of the values our Union was built on. The Parliament buildings are named after the men and women who moved Europe forward. Simone Veil. Altiero Spinelli. Willy Brandt. And more. The Pantheon of our European Union. And this is exactly where David Sassoli belongs. It is a bittersweet moment to see David's name on this building. But it also makes me think how lucky we were to meet him, to walk part of the way with him, and to call him friend.

Let me share three memories with you. On the first day of my first mandate, David invited me and the other Presidents of European institutions to the House of European History. Towards the end of the tour, we stopped at the busts of our Union's founding fathers. From Monnet to De Gasperi. David said something simple and powerful – that our mission was to always remember the values that inspired our founders. Because that is what Europe needs for a new beginning. David always lived up to this principle.

My second memory, during his Presidency, David responded to the moment Europe faced with incredible clarity. I remember meeting him on the Parliament's terrace in the early months of the pandemic. He advocated for a strong European response to the crisis. For a Europe of solidarity as he always said. So that all people and all countries could recover fast. That day, I scribbled a few figures on a paper tissue, the core idea of the recovery plan we were working on. David was immediately on board. And in spite of all the difficulties of those times, Parliament fast-tracked NextGenerationEU and gave its green light in just 57 days. The moment called for action. And David answered that call.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Not far from here stands a piece of the Berlin Wall. Many of us listened to David talk about the day when the Wall fell. Back in 1989 he was a young journalist in Rome. And as he heard the news of what was happening, he did not wait for his editor to send him. He drove all night – just to get to Berlin. He wanted to see with his own eyes, and celebrate with millions of Europeans like him. David constantly referred to that day. The moment when our continent could finally come together. For David, it was not just an event of the past. It was a responsibility for the future. Our responsibility to bring Europe together. That is the gift he left to us all. The idea that our destiny is in our own hands. In his own words: ‘La speranza siamo noi'. 

Thank you, David, for all that you did.

And thank you all for celebrating this great European.

E viva l'Europa.