Ursula von der Leyen Re-elected as European Commission President

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Facts

  • The European Parliament reelected Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday for another five-year term as president of the European Commission. The final count was 401 votes in favor and 284 against — with 15 abstentions and seven invalid votes — exceeding the required threshold of 360.1
  • This result comes after she held multiple closed-door meetings with the primary groups in the European Parliament.2
  • Von der Leyen, whose Christian Democratic Union belongs to the center-right European People's Party (EPP), called her reelection a victory for those in favor of the European Union, support for Ukraine, and rule of law.3
  • Ahead of the vote, she presented a 31-page policy proposal setting out her priorities in a second term — to boost investment for 'green, digital and social transition' and to create a European Defense Union.4
  • She further pledged to appoint new commissioners for defense, EU enlargement, housing, and the Mediterranean region, as well as to establish a Europe-wide air defense system and cyber protection as projects of 'common European interest.'5
  • Meanwhile, former Portuguese socialist Prime Minister António Costa and Estonia's outgoing Prime Minister Kaja Kallas are set to become the head of the European Council and the EU's top diplomat, respectively, later this year.6

Sources: 1POLITICO, 2Euronews, 3Associated Press, 4CNN, 5Financial Times and 6BBC News.

Narratives

  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Von der Leyen comfortably won reelection as Europe's democratic center joined forces to defeat extremist political forces that would have torn the bloc apart and destroyed the European way of life. As it currently faces both internal and external challenges, Europe needs continuity and stability — and the leadership of von der Leyen will be key to ensure that.
  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Europeanconservative. European voters shifted to the right in June only to see the European establishment undemocratically push EU decision-making further to the left to maintain their power by a thin margin — even at the cost of continuing disastrous climate policies. People want change, but broken political systems keep producing the opposite results.

Predictions