Circles: Von der Leyen wants second term as EU Commission President
Published: Monday, Feb 19th 2024, 12:21
Back to Live Feed
Ursula von der Leyen is seeking a second term as President of the EU Commission. The CDU politician stated this at a meeting of the party leadership in Berlin on Monday, the German Press Agency learned from the CDU federal executive. V
Von der Leyen said that she was looking forward to the joint election campaign.
The post of President of the European Commission must be filled after the European elections in June. As a rule, a candidate from the European party family that performs best in the European elections is appointed. So far, the EPP is clearly ahead in the polls. There is therefore a good chance that von der Leyen will be able to remain President.
As President of the EU Commission since December 1, 2019, von der Leyen is the head of around 32,000 employees who, among other things, make proposals for new EU laws and monitor compliance with the European Treaties. The 65-year-old also sits at the table as the EU representative at almost all major international summits such as the G7 and G20. The US magazine "Forbes" recently named von der Leyen the "most powerful woman in the world" again.
"Forbes": Von der Leyen most powerful woman in the world
Von der Leyen's time in office to date has been dominated by the coronavirus crisis and the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. During the pandemic, the EU Commission organized the joint procurement of vaccines and developed a huge recovery program for the economy.
In connection with the war in Ukraine, the authority is now responsible in particular for organizing support for the country attacked by Russia and making proposals for sanctions against Russia. Other important areas of responsibility for the agency include European trade, competition and environmental policy. Von der Leyen is particularly concerned with the goal of making the EU the world's first climate-neutral economic power by 2050.
Before moving to Brussels, von der Leyen was, among other things, Minister of Defense under the then Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU). The mother of seven children has a doctorate in medicine and has also served as Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Minister of Labor and Minister of Social Affairs in Lower Saxony.
She was already considered the ideal candidate during her first term of office
She was already considered the ideal candidate for the job at the head of the Commission in 2019, at least on paper. Von der Leyen was born in Brussels in 1958 - the year Walter Hallstein became the first and, until von der Leyen, the last German to head the Commission. Von der Leyen's father, the later Prime Minister of Lower Saxony Ernst Albrecht, worked for this Commission. Her daughter went to the European School, which is one of the reasons why she speaks French and English well.
Election of von der Leyen as EPP candidate probably on March 7
The election of the EPP candidate for the top post is to take place at a party congress on March 7. It is considered certain that von der Leyen will receive the necessary majority of votes there. Possible opposing candidates are not yet known. In addition to the German CDU and CSU, the European party family EPP includes the Austrian ÖVP, the Italian Forza Italia and Spain's conservative People's Party PP.
Skeptical MEPs
Members of the European Parliament in particular are still sceptical about von der Leyen. One reason for this is that the German was nominated for the post by the heads of state and government in 2019, even though she had not previously stood as a lead candidate in the European elections. In her view, the European Council thus violated the so-called Spitzenkandidaten system. This stipulates that only lead candidates from the parties in the European elections should be considered for the post of President of the European Commission.
For the Christian Democrats, this was the CSU politician Manfred Weber at the time. In the end, however, he was unable to unite a majority of the heads of state and government in the European Council behind his election.
It is considered certain that the coalition government of SPD, Greens and FDP would not oppose von der Leyen should the Christian Democrats once again become the strongest political force in the EU in the European elections in June. One of the reasons for this is that otherwise a candidate from another EU country would be chosen.
According to the German Press Agency, Ursula von der Leyen's election campaign will focus on the competitiveness of the EU. Among other things, she recently initiated a procedure with the current Commission that could be used to take action against massively subsidized electric cars from China. Von der Leyen also supports the idea of appointing a European Commissioner for Defense. If she were to remain Commission President, she would appoint a Commissioner for Defense, the German politician said on Saturday at the Munich Security Conference.
©Keystone/SDA
English 
German 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic