Biden congratulates Von der Leyen on her re-election as head of the European Commission

Jul 19. () –

US President Joe Biden on Thursday congratulated Ursula von der Leyen, who has secured the support of a sufficient majority of MEPs to continue at the head of the EU Executive for another five years in a secret vote held after the presentation and subsequent debate of her political priorities for the next legislature.

“Congratulations to the President of the European Commission on her re-election. I look forward to working with you, the President of the European Council, (António) Costa, and the President of the European Parliament (Roberta) Metsola, to consolidate our strong partnership and address common global challenges,” she said on her profile on the social network X.

Von der Leyen needed to win at least 360 of the total 720 seats in the hemicycle to be re-elected, a figure she has managed to surpass by obtaining the support of the majority of members of the European Parliament, a total of 401 votes out of 707 cast, compared to 284 votes against, 15 abstentions and seven spoiled votes.

The head of the Community Executive has managed to repeat the coalition made up of ‘populares’, socialists and liberals that already supported her candidacy in 2019, which together add up to 401 seats, in addition to winning the support of the Greens, who at the last minute decided to vote for Von der Leyen despite lowering her environmental demands, with the aim of cushioning the influence of the extreme right in community policies.

The heads of state and government of the European Union sealed the distribution of the top community posts at the end of June, after a negotiation that went ahead without the support of the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, and despite the firm rejection of the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán.

The agreement meant that Von der Leyen would be reappointed and that the former Portuguese Prime Minister, António Costa, would take over the presidency of the European Council from Charles Michel on 1 December, for a two-and-a-half-year term. The third senior position that completes the complex territorial, ideological and gender balance is that of High Representative for Foreign Policy of the EU, held by the socialist Josep Borrell, which with the change of legislature will be handed over to the Prime Minister of Estonia, Kaja Kallas.