Ursula von der Leyen is the newest President-elect of the European Commission. She was elected through a secret paper ballot held on Tuesday, July 16th and, out of 747 members of parliament, 383 voted in favour of her nomination.
According to the European Parliament Press release, “There were 733 votes cast, one of which was not valid. 383 members voted in favour, 327 against, and 22 abstained.” Since its establishment in 1957, the European Union has had 12 commission Presidents; von der Leyen is the 13th and first female.
Rocky Nomination
Her journey to the top has not been a walk in the park as her nomination, alone, was the subject of controversy since its announcement on the 2nd of July. The European Council (heads of states of the member countries) nominate a candidate who is then elected by the European Parliament. In the past, the ‘spitzenkandidat’ process –an informal convention in which the candidate from the lead party that ran in the European Parliament election is nominated– was used.
MEPs were displeased with her nomination and many vowed not to support her.
Who is Ursula von der Leyen?
Ursula von der Leyen is a German politician and close ally of German Chancellor, Angela Merkel. She served as Minister for Family, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth from 2005 to 2009; Minister of Labour and Social Affairs from 2009 to 2013 and Minister of Defence of Germany since 2013. She has been called a ‘closet feminist,’ a ‘control freak’ and, even, a ‘bossy career woman.’
‘Mother of seven,’ as her Twitter bio reads, she’s known to push gender-based issues close to her heart. Jagoda Marinić highlights some of the strides von der Leyen has achieved in fighting for gender parity, which includes revolutionising the way working mothers are treated in Germany.
von der Leyen addressed the MEPs before the vote, saying, “If member states do not propose enough female commissioners, I will not hesitate to ask for new names, we represent half our population. We want our fair share.”
Immigration, climate change and gender issues are central to her vision. CNN notes that in her address to Parliament on July 16: “She wanted Europe to be the first “climate-neutral continent” in the world, proposing a new “green deal” to make the EU carbon neutral by 2050.”
“She also spoke on gender equality and said that she would propose to add violence against women to the list of EU crimes. In a letter on Monday addressed to the parliament’s Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, von der Leyen also said that she would propose a “new pact on migration and asylum,” that would establish a “new way of burden-sharing.”
She is to officially assume office on November 1, 2019, to succeed the current president, Jean-Claude Juncker.
