European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was elected leader of the European Christian Democratic Center Party on Thursday. The parties announced this on Thursday during a party conference in the Romanian capital, Bucharest.
Among the delegates of the center-right European People's Party, 400 voted in favor of her candidacy and 89 voted against her candidacy. The EPP includes the CDA and von der Leyen's CDU.
According to opinion polls, the European People's Party is likely to once again have the largest group in the new European Parliament. Von der Leyen thus has a chance to remain as president.
German von der Leyen announced about two weeks ago that she also wants to lead the European Commission for the next five years. She is seen as the most likely candidate for the top job, but she will almost certainly not be the nominee again.
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Member states and Parliament must choose the president after the elections
To get the job again, EU member states and the new European Parliament still have to choose von der Leyen after the European elections. Then the role of the party leader, or the so-called main candidate, becomes important.
The European Parliament created this role in 2014 to make European appointments more transparent. After the European elections, the most convincing candidate should become the new president of the European Commission. The European Parliament must approve this candidate by an absolute majority.
In 2019, this almost gave Frans Timmermans the position of President of the European Commission. But EU member states ignored him, just like his rival Manfred Weber.
Many countries did not want a social democrat like Timmermans as president of the Commission. They preferred someone from the European People's Party. Because Weber also disliked it, von der Leyen of the Christian Democratic Party was eventually appointed president.
“I intuitively said yes,” von der Leyen said earlier. She was German Defense Minister at the time and did not present herself as a candidate. And now it does so emphatically.
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Von der Leyen wil nog vijf jaar aan het roer staan van Europese Commissie
