The European Parliament has re-elected ultra-globalist Ursula von der Leyen as President of the European Commission for a new five-year term. The vote, which took place on Thursday, resulted in 401 votes for von der Leyen, 40 more than the required majority of 361.
The Parliament currently has 719 members, of whom 284 voted against and 22 abstained or cast invalid votes. This will be Ursula von der Leyen’s second term as Commission President, after she was first elected by MEPs in July 2019.
Ahead of the vote, Ursula von der Leyen presented her policy priorities for the next five years in a debate with MEPs. She promised to lead the fight against “demagogues and extremists” in Europe.
– We don’t agree on everything, but we should at least agree that Europe is stronger when we overcome our differences and join forces, von der Leyen said.
According to Article 14 of the Treaty on European Union, the European Parliament “shall elect the President of the Commission”. Ursula von der Leyen, who was the European People’s Party’s (EPP) top candidate in the June 6-9 European elections, has now been reappointed to lead the European Commission for another five years.
Following her re-election, Ursula von der Leyen will now send official letters to the Heads of State or Government of the Member States, inviting them to propose their candidates for the posts of European Commissioners. The Parliament will then organize hearings of the candidates in the different committees after the summer, and the whole College of Commissioners will then have to be approved by the Parliament.
