The German conservative Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday was re-elected by Members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France. She will lead the Commission for another five-year term after having been at the helm of the EU since 2019 as the first female executive ever.
Signal of Stability.
The European Parliament (EP) voted in favour of a second Ursula von der Leyen term in the European Commission with 401 votes on Thursday afternoon during its first parliamentary session since the European elections in early June.
Von der Leyen was re-elected in a secret ballot vote. The European Parliament has 720 seats but is currently made up of 719 members as the Spanish MEP Antoni Comin has not yet taken up his mandate. The necessary majority to secure a second term was 360 votes. 284 lawmakers voted against, there were 15 abstentions and seven invalid votes. While von der Leyen in 2019 only secured the post by nine votes, her majority this time is much larger.
Her successful re-election to lead the powerful commission is a strong signal of stability for the European Union during testing times of war and political instability heightened by the strengthening of the far-right.
With the backing of EU leaders and the European Parliament, the German politician will have to get straight to work choosing her next cabinet of commissioners, known as a "college", to work on EU policy in key areas. From mid-August, she will start interviewing the candidates proposed by European governments.
During her second term, she will likely have to face a growing list of issues to tackle, including war in Ukraine and the risk of a wider conflict in the Middle East as well as the EU's trade tensions with China and the possibility of a second Trump presidency on the other side of the Atlantic.
Parliament members cast their vote after the European People's Party (EPP) politician presented her agenda for the next term earlier in the morning to the lawmakers in Strasbourg.
What are von der Leyen's goals for the second term?.
In her speech prior to the vote, the German politician outlined her plans for a second term in the EU's highest office, focussing on defence and industry and tackling a housing crisis.
The re-election pitch also included stern words for Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, advocating for a "strong Europe" as well as concrete plans to strengthen the EU border and coastguard agency Frontex and to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
The former German defence minister advocated for a "strong Europe" in a "period of deep anxiety and uncertainty".
"I'm convinced that Europe, a strong Europe, can rise to the challenge," she said during a speech in the European Parliament.
"I will never accept that demagogues and extremists destroy our European way of life, and I stand here today ready to lead the fight with all the democratic forces here in this house." She vowed to strengthen the Frontex "while fully respecting fundamental rights", proposing to triple the number of guards.
During her speech, she also mentioned the need for an "immediate and enduring" ceasefire in Gaza as too many civilians in the Palestinian territory "have lost their lives as a result of Israel's response to Hamas' brutal terror".
Von der Leyen also promised to target cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 90 percent by 2040. This objective is a key step towards achieving the carbon neutrality by 2050 goal. Von der Leyen told EU lawmakers that "the new clean industrial deal will also help bring down energy bills".
Besides that, she criticised Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's recent visit to Moscow, calling it "nothing but an appeasement mission". Hungary currently holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU. Von der Leyen this week ordered top EU officials to stay away from a series of meetings Hungary was to host as part of its EU presidency, and to send lower-ranking civil servants only.
Weeks of rallying support successful.
Throughout her first term, the 65-year-old has weathered several crises like the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine - and also faced many controversies.
Dealing a blow to von der Leyen a day before the vote, a top EU court ruled she failed to be transparent enough about coronavirus vaccine contracts.
Von der Leyen has held weeks of negotiations with lawmakers to push them to back her, including those who made it clear that they have no intention to support her. She has met with a number of parliamentary groups including the Social Democrats (S&D), the Liberals (Renew), the Greens and the Conservatives (ECR) but also with national delegations and even individual MEPs, with a particular focus on the Greens.
To be elected, the EPP politician needed at least 360 votes. The EPP - the biggest group in the parliament - is in a centrist alliance with the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) and Renew Europe groups. Theoretically, the coalition had the numbers to get von der Leyen re-elected. However, expectations were that some lawmakers within those groups would vote against her whereas some Green and European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) lawmakers could vote for her.
"At the moment, Ursula von der Leyen is fighting for every vote.
Things are not clear-cut, because there may be a decision of the political groups to support, but this does not mean that every single MEP is not free in this secret ballot to decide whether to support Ursula von der Leyen or not," Bulgarian MEP Andrey Kovatchev (EPP) explained earlier this week. A Renew lawmaker said voting for von der Leyen "doesn't mean giving her a blank cheque".
While the vote is secret, some lawmakers have openly communicated their stance. Italian Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said his Forza Italia party - which is part of EPP - will vote for von der Leyen, after she presented her political guidelines on Thursday.
Fellow Deputy Premier and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini said Italy's Lega party, which is part of the newly established far-right Patriots for Europe, would vote against her. Carlo Fidanza, the head of the Brothers of Italy (FdI) delegation in the EP said after the vote that the right-wing group had voted against von der Leyen. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who leads the FdI party and heads the ECR group in the European Parliament, had been furious that the group had been left out of the negotiations for the EU top jobs at the end of June.
Portugal's far-left Left Bloc (BE), and Communist Party (PCP) and far-right Chega said they planned to vote against von der Leyen. Speaking to Portuguese journalists on the sidelines of the plenary session in Strasbourg, Left Bloc MEP Catarina Martins listed the "issues of war and peace", the "shameful" migration pact as well as an economic governance package "promising more austerity for Europe" as justifications for voting against the German. Centre-right parties CDS - People's Party (CDS-PP) and Social Democratic Party (PDS) said they would vote in favour.
While the green light for a second von der Leyen term has been met with praise by many such as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić or Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob, some MEPs have reacted more reluctantly.
After the vote, Romana Tomc, a Slovenian EPP member said von der Leyen "was never our choice" and Matjaž Nemec from S&D wrote that her re-election wasn't sending an encouraging message.
Irena Joveva (Renew) however expects the German politician to keep the commitments she made.
Women on top of the EU.
Ursula von der Leyen is one of three - possibly soon four - women holding the five EU top jobs.
The Maltese EPP politician Roberta Metsola has been re-elected as European Parliament president on Tuesday, extending her position for another 2,5 years.
The French politician and lawyer Christine Lagarde holds the position of European Central Bank chief - as the first woman to do so - and will remain in the role until 2027.
Kaja Kallas, Estonia's outgoing prime minister, is tapped to take over the post of EU foreign policy chief from Spain's Josep Borrell. Her nomination has yet to be put to a vote in the European Parliament - likely in autumn.
(The content is based on news by agencies participating in the enr, in this case AFP, ANSA, BTA, CTK, dpa, EFE, LUSA, STA, TASR, Tanjug).
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