Ursula von der Leyen is re-elected as president of the European Commission

Ursula von der Leyen manages to stay in office for another five years with 401 votes in favour of her presidency, out of 707 votes cast. After an election in which she was running with a delicate majority, she has managed to gather more than the 361 votes required for the presidency of the Commission. However, she has had to meet with parties of very diverse ideologies to ensure maximum support, since the Votes are secret and last-minute changes could arise.

Von der Leyen has been forced to seek support outside the centrist formations, and to engage in a dialogue with parties such as ECR (European Conservatives and Reformists Group) to propose various measures and secure their votes in favour, to compensate for possible unforeseen changes of vote. However, minutes before the vote, ECR announced that the majority of its members would vote against von der Leyen. In addition, Her political party, the European People’s Party (EPP), had guaranteed its full support to the president.. On the other hand, the Social Democrats (136 MEPs), the Liberals (77) and the Greens expressed their opposition to supporting Von der Leyen if she made a pact with far-right groups. The president then announced that she would form a coalition with those who declared themselves pro-European and opposed to the Russian regime of Vladimir Putin.

Since 2019, Von der Leyen has governed in a coalition made up of the Popular Party, Socialists and Liberals, with 383 votes in favor made her the first woman to chair the Commission. However, this time the House was more fragmented and smaller than five years ago, with 27 fewer MEPs since the United Kingdom left the European Union. Now, repeats the 2019 coalitionand wins the support of the Greens.

Before the vote, the German candidate gave a speech in which she promised various measures such as Increase investment in security and defence, promote an Accessible Housing Plan or a Clean Industry Pactamong others. She was also the EPP (European People’s Party) lead candidate in the June 2024 European elections.