Von der Leyen set for second term as European Commission chief
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In her second term, Dr Ursula von der Leyen will no longer have to coordinate policy efforts with European Council president Charles Michel.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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BRUSSELS - Dr Ursula von der Leyen was expected to secure informal backing on June 17 for a second term as president of the European Commission (EC), which sets the European Union’s agenda with legislative proposals, trade investigations and competition adjudication.
EU leaders instead ended a discussion on who should take the bloc’s top jobs for the next five years without agreement on June 17, aiming instead for a decision at a summit next week.
The leaders’ meeting was the first since the European Parliament election, which saw gains for the centre-right and right-wing nationalists, but humiliating defeats for French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
They had been widely expected to nominate Dr von der Leyen of Germany for a second term as EC chief, former Portuguese premier Antonio Costa as European Council president and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas as top diplomat. But the current European Council president, Mr Charles Michel, said they needed more time.
“It was a good conversation, (it) goes in the right direction, I think. But there is no agreement tonight,” he told reporters after the dinner.
Back in 2019, Dr von der Leyen, a doctor turned German defence minister, was a surprise pick to head the body, a decision that was reached only after marathon talks between EU leaders. This time round she is very much the front runner.
Born in Brussels and the mother of seven children, she has chosen to live in a small flat next to her office on the 13th floor of the commission’s Berlaymont headquarters to avoid the Belgian capital’s traffic.
After securing a narrow majority in the European Parliament, without the backing of the Greens, her commission launched the Green Deal in December 2019. It proposed a commitment to climate neutrality by 2050, with multiple legislative proposals to reach that goal since then.
Dr von der Leyen, 65, oversaw the commission’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which included the coordinated purchase and roll-out of vaccines across the bloc and a refusal to suspend the EU’s open internal borders.
She took a leading role again in February 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine,
In her second term, she will no longer have to coordinate policy efforts with the European Council president Charles Michel – the former Belgian prime minister with whom she had a frosty relationship – because Mr Michel’s term ends in 2024.
The tension between the two top EU officials dates back to April 2021, when, during a joint meeting in Ankara, only one seat was set out for the EU by the hosts.
Mr Michel promptly took it, relegating Dr von der Leyen to a nearby sofa – an incident since dubbed “Sofagate”. REUTERS
