EU summit - Final spurt begins for von der Leyen in race for top job
For Ursula von der Leyen, the final sprint begins after her nomination by European state and government heads for a second term as President of the EU Commission. To retain her top position in the EU Commission for another five years, the German politician needs to secure a majority of the deputies in the new EU Parliament in the coming weeks.
The informal alliance, formed by her European People's Party (EVP) with the Social Democrats (S&D) and Liberals (Renew), holds a comfortable majority of approximately 400 out of 720 votes. However, it is believed that some deputies may deviate from the faction line and not give their vote to the German. The vote is scheduled to take place, according to current plans, on July 18. If von der Leyen fails in the vote, the EU states' heads of government would need to propose another candidate.
The coming weeks are crucial
Von der Leyen announced on Friday after her nomination at the EU summit in Brussels that she would speak with various parties and groups in the European Parliament in the coming weeks. It is important for her that these are pro-European, pro-Ukrainian, and pro-rule-of-law, she said. Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed confidence that von der Leyen would be elected. "The President has a good reputation in the parliament," the SPD politician said after the meeting.
Additional votes that von der Leyen could receive could mainly come from Green deputies. The former European Greens chairman and outgoing German EU deputy Reinhard Bütikofer recently called on his party friends to support her re-election and justified this by stating that the package negotiated by Scholz and other leading European state and government heads for the re-filling of the EU-top jobs after the European election was the best that could be achieved.
Former Portuguese Prime Minister has EU-top job secured
The package includes not only von der Leyen's nomination but also the decision that the social democratic former Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa will be the next President of the European Council and that the Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas will be the EU Foreign Affairs Representative. Costa will then be responsible for preparing EU summits and chairing their work sessions. Kallas would follow Borrell after confirmation of the new EU Commission by the Parliament.
The presidency of the EU Commission is, however, the most important position. The officeholder is responsible for approximately 32,000 employees, who, among other things, propose new EU laws. The Commission President sits at the table at almost all major international summit meetings as the EU representative.
Not simple are the talks for von der Leyen, especially because she and her European People's Party (EVP) family in the campaign had not excluded cooperation with the right-wing Italian Minister President Giorgia Meloni and her party Fratelli d'Italia (Brothers of Italy). Rasmus Andresen, spokesperson of the German Greens in the European Parliament, spoke cautiously on Friday about possible support. "It's up to Ursula von der Leyen to form a pro-European and stable majority for her re-election in the parliament," he said.
Andresen's colleague Michael Bloss declared that the Greens were ready to take responsibility for Europe, as a majority with "anti-Europeans" would mean an ice age for a strong Europe. Von der Leyen must, however, clearly commit herself to the so-called Green Deal, which aims to ensure the EU climate targets.
Useful for von der Leyen now could be that Meloni abstained from the vote in the night to Friday and afterwards strongly criticized that she was left out of the preliminary negotiations on the personnel package. Chancellor Scholz, however, made it clear that he considers this correct. He is convinced that it is good if parties from right-wing populist party families are not the basis of support for von der Leyen, he said. With that, he also included Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who opposes von der Leyen at the EU summit as the only one.
Right-wing populists grumble.
- Despite the comfortable majority held by Ursula von der Leyen's alliance in the EU Parliament, there are concerns about potential dissenters who might not vote in her favor.
- After her nomination by European state and government heads, von der Leyen plans to meet with various parties and groups in the European Parliament in the coming weeks.
- The vote for von der Leyen's re-election as EU Commission President is scheduled to take place on July 18, according to current plans.
- Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed confidence that von der Leyen would be elected, praising her reputation in the parliament.
- Additional votes for von der Leyen could potentially come from Green deputies, as urged by former European Greens chairman Reinhard Bütikofer.
- The EU Parliament's confirmation of the new EU Commission would allow António Costa to become the President of the European Council and Kaja Kallas to take over as EU Foreign Affairs Representative.
- The presidency of the EU Commission is the most significant position, with the officeholder responsible for proposing new EU laws and representing the EU at major international summit meetings.
- Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who opposes von der Leyen at the EU summit, is among the right-wing populists grumbling about their exclusion from preliminary negotiations on the personnel package.
