Europe Agreement at top level: Von der Leyen to be given a second term in office
Shortly before a decisive EU summit, the heads of state and government of the major European party families have agreed to nominate CDU politician Ursula von der Leyen for a second term as President of the EU Commission. The German Press Agency learned this from negotiating circles on Tuesday.
25.06.2024, 13:50
SDA
The agreement also provides for the liberal Estonian head of government, Kaja Kallas, to take up the post of EU foreign affairs commissioner. Former Portuguese head of government António Costa is to be elected president of the body of heads of state and government for an initial period of two and a half years. In this position, the Social Democrat would then be responsible for preparing the EU summits and chairing the working meetings.
If Costa does the job well, he should also be able to get a second term of office according to current practice. The Commission presidency and the post of EU foreign affairs representative are awarded for an EU legislative period, i.e. for around five years.
Chancellor Scholz in the negotiating team
The basis of the agreement, which still has to be formalized at the EU summit on Thursday and Friday, is the result of the European elections just over two weeks ago. The center-right EPP alliance with CDU politician Ursula von der Leyen as lead candidate achieved by far the best result. The European party family of the Social Democrats (S&D) came second and the Liberals (Renew) third.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis led the negotiations for the EPP, while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez negotiated for the Social Democrats. The Liberals are relying on French President Emmanuel Macron and outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to lead the negotiations.
Von der Leyen should remain at the table of the powerful
The Presidency of the European Commission is by far the most important position to be filled after the European elections. The incumbent reports to around 32,000 employees who, among other things, make proposals for new EU laws and monitor compliance with the European Treaties. The Commission President 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" therefore recently named von der Leyen the "most powerful woman in the world" again. The former Federal Minister of Defense (2013-2019), Labor and Social Affairs (2009-2013) and Family, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (2005-2009) took office after the 2019 European elections, when the heads of state and government were unable to agree on the then EPP lead candidate Manfred Weber (CSU).
European Parliament remains a hurdle
Following the expected nomination of von der Leyen at the EU summit, she still has to be elected by a majority in the European Parliament. To this end, the German will have to campaign for support from MEPs in the coming weeks. The vote is scheduled for the third week of July at the earliest and is considered the highest hurdle on the way to a second term in office. The reason for this is that the vote is by secret ballot and von der Leyen has a comparatively large number of critics in parliament. When she was elected in 2019, she only received nine votes more than necessary.
Von der Leyen had already announced immediately after the European elections that she wanted to continue the previous informal cooperation with the Social Democrats and Liberals. This three-party alliance would have a comfortable majority of around 400 of the 720 votes in Parliament.
