In her view, no member-state is perfect, and the Union should regularly assess how EU values are being upheld in all member-states. She pledged to improve the EU’s toolbox for addressing rule of law violations.She also proposed an unemployment reinsurance scheme to help countries that have suffered a severe economic shock.
A bumpy road to action research full#
Some MEPs also worried that she might be too German in her approach to the management and reform of the eurozone and insist on a strict interpretation of the EU’s fiscal rules.īefore the vote, von der Leyen published political guidelines to respond to some of these concerns: Von der Leyen has instead struck a more conciliatory tone, arguing that the EU needs to overcome its East/West divisions. She was proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron as a compromise candidate after EU leaders failed to back Timmermans, who as Commission first vice president had repeatedly clashed with Warsaw and Budapest over democratic backsliding.
Other MEPs worried that von der Leyen would struggle to stand up to member-states on issues such as the rule of law. Unlike von der Leyen, lead candidates such as the centre-right Manfred Weber and the centre-left Frans Timmermans have spent the last few months campaigning across the EU on the assumption that one of them would become the Commission president. Many MEPs argued that they could not endorse a candidate chosen behind closed doors by EU leaders, and one whose views were unknown to the wider public. This system was designed by the European Parliament to ensure that the European Council nominates the ‘lead candidate’ of one of the European political parties for the Commission presidency. Some pro-European MEPs, including the Greens, opposed von der Leyen because she did not come through the so-called Spitzenkandidaten process. Had all the parliamentarians in these groups supported her, she would have won 444 votes.Ĭommission president-elect Ursula von der Leyen cannot afford yet another tight vote in the European Parliament on her college of commissioners. But although the European People’s Party (EPP), the liberal Renew Europe group (formerly ALDE) and the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) officially backed her, a significant number of MEPs from these groups voted against von der Leyen. Von der Leyen was elected in a secret ballot. Now she must put together a team of commissioners that can help her fulfil the promises she made to secure her election, and convince members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to approve her entire college of commissioners so that it can take office on November 1st. She scraped through with only nine votes more than the required absolute majority of 374. On July 16th the European Parliament elected Ursula von der Leyen to be the next president of the European Commission. Now she faces the difficult task of assembling a team of commissioners to deliver her priorities. The European Parliament has narrowly elected Ursula von der Leyen as the first female Commission president.
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