Ursula von der Leyen was re-elected by MEPs on Thursday as head of the European Commission, paving the way for continuity in the European Union’s main institutions.
Members of the European Parliament meeting in Strasbourg on Thursday granted a second five-year term of office to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who had already received the green light from the 27 Member States in June.
In a secret ballot, the German leader received 401 votes in favor (284 against, 15 abstentions, 7 void), well beyond the absolute majority she needed.
Having become the first woman to head the European executive in 2019, the former German minister has made her mark through crisis after crisis.
Faced with the shock of Covid-19, she piloted a gigantic European recovery plan financed by an unprecedented common debt. After the invasion of Ukraine, she declared her support for Kiev and defined a strategy to break the country’s energy dependence on Moscow.
A long-standing advocate of a “geopolitical commission”, it aims to ensure stability in the face of geopolitical tensions: conflict in Gaza, disputes with Beijing, the possible return of Donald Trump…
On Thursday, it pledged to massively step up investment in the defense industry, with a dedicated commissioner.
We need “a strong Europe” in a “period of great anxiety and uncertainty,” she pleaded in a speech in English, French and German, in which she tried to respond to the contradictory expectations of the various groups before the vote.
With AFP
