European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen re-elected for second term by MEPs

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was re-elected by MEPs for a second term on Thursday 18 July. She received 401 votes, compared to 360 she needed. A total of 707 voters were counted. There were also 284 against, 15 abstentions and six blank votes. The Twenty-Seven had agreed to grant her a new five-year term at the head of the European executive, where she has asserted herself since 2019 through crises, from Covid-19 to the war in Ukraine, while developing major legislation, such as the European Green Deal, digital rules and the Pact on Migration and Asylum.

Before the vote, Ursula von der Leyen had presented her political project in such a way as to meet the sometimes contradictory expectations of the various groups. The European People’s Party (EPP, right), from which the German leader comes, remains the leading force in Parliament (188 elected representatives). The Social Democrats (S&D) hold 136 seats and the Liberals (Renew) 77. The grand coalition bringing together these three parties would therefore be sufficient.