German Christian Democrat Ursula von der Leyen was elected President of the European Commission for 5 years on Tuesday 16 July by a very narrow majority (383 votes ‘in favour’, 327 votes ‘against’, 22 abstentions, 1 nil vote) by MEPs meeting in plenary session in Strasbourg.
“In democracy, the majority is the majority”, she told the press, questioned about the consequences of this very weak majority. An absolute majority of 374 votes was required for her to be elected, as 733 deputies voted.
“I believe that, 2 weeks earlier, I did not have the majority, because I was not known [...] And I am extremely happy that after 13 days, we managed to form a pro-European majority. It's a good starting point”, she added.
In her first remarks as President-elect, Mrs von der Leyen did not refer to the first flagship measures that the future Commission will initiate, but rather to her understanding and vision of the European Union. She hoped that, in 5 years’ time, the EU would be “a climate-friendly Europe, a Europe that serves people, an economically strong and digital Europe, a Europe that is based on the rule of law”. And the former German Defence Minister expressed his willingness to put an end to the divisions “between East and West and between South and North”.
Nevertheless, Mrs von der Leyen admitted that she has not “thought at all about the different pieces of the puzzle”, because of the very short time between her appointment by the European Council (see EUROPE 12287/1) and her election by the European Parliament.
The very small positive majority enjoyed by the Christian Democrat, which could prove to be a handicap in setting up the post-Juncker Commission, surprised everyone. That very morning, however, in the Chamber, Mrs von der Leyen tried to give pledges to the liberal and left-wing families of the European Parliament in order to remove any doubts about her candidacy.
The support of the EPP, the largest group in Parliament, was strong. “We won. It's like football. If you win 1 to 0 or 3 to 0, in the end it's the same thing”, Antonio Tajani, the previous Parliament president, told EUROPE. “In a few months' time, we will no longer remember it”, said Danuta Huebner (EPP, Poland). The former European Commissioner described “a new European Parliament, more fragmented”, including two thirds who “are new colleagues who maybe understand less the legitimacy of the European Commission”. According to it, Mrs von der Leyen's first test will be in the choice of Commissioners proposed to her by the Member States.
The S&D group was divided. Thus, the Socialists in Germany, Austria, Belgium, Greece, France, Greece and the Netherlands reportedly opposed the election of Mrs von der Leyen, with two thirds in her favour and one third against her.
Congratulating his compatriot, German Social Democrat Jens Geier stressed the “responsibility” of the President-elect. “She offered a lot. Now, she has to deliver”, he told EUROPE, not wishing to overestimate the outcome of the vote.
The Renew Europe group's approach was more uniform. Indeed, the Romanian Dacian Cioloș had stated, before the vote, that “fewer than five members” of the Liberal Group over which he presides were opposed to the election of Mrs von der Leyen. He told EUROPE, after the vote, that the President-elect must now detail her commitments, because, in his view, “she has a margin of support” in Parliament. “When you win, even with one vote, you win”, reacted Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who is expected to become Vice-President of the future ‘von der Leyen’ Commission. “What matters is how you live in the office”, she said, when asked by EUROPE, convinced that the Liberal Group had been “the most loyal” to Germany. “It's a pity the Greens have not been on board”, she added.
The Christian Democrat's attempt to convince the Greens/EFA group to support her will have been unsuccessful. Ska Keller, Co-President of the Greens in the European Parliament, certainly described Mrs von der Leyen's speech as positively “surprising”. But, according to her, major concerns of environmentalists have not been addressed. The GUE/NGL group was on the same line.
The europhobes from the Identity and Democracy group, as well as the British of the Brexit Party, also opposed the election of the German. In EUROPE, the President of the ID Group, Italian Marco Zanni, described Mrs von der Leyen as a “weak” President, elected in a speech that had moved “to the left” of the political spectrum. “It will be a problem for the EPP”, he predicted.
The conservative group ECR does not seem to have supported Mrs von der Leyen in the end. Disappointed by the Christian Democrat's programme, Ryszard Legutko (ECR, Poland) said in a statement that it offered “little to voters who have genuine concerns over the speed and depth of EU integration”.
The ‘von der Leyen’ Commission will take office on 1 November. In the meantime, the President-elect will have to constitute the College of 28 Commissioners on the basis of proposals from each Member State. The Commissioners-designate will be heard by the relevant Parliament committees before a green light is given in plenary session to the entire future Commission.
Asked about the possibility of some EU Member States offering her potential Eurosceptic Commissioners, Mrs von der Leyen said she wanted a Commission “that is totally dedicated on improving the EU, of course respecting subsidiarity”. She assured that the composition of the College would be "the right one for that task".
A receptive hemicycle in centre, doubtful on left and hostile to extremes
During the debate, Mrs von der Leyen, juggling between French, German and English, appealed to emotions before declaring her vision of Europe, which is in line with that defended by her predecessors. Her speech was punctuated by several sequences of spontaneous applause, sometimes nourished, suggesting a positive outcome to the election.
Advocating parity between men and women in the future College of European Commissioners, the German Christian Democrat stressed her "pride" that a woman would be able, for the first time, to claim the presidency of the Commission, referring to the "audacity of pioneers" such as the French Simone Veil, the first woman to preside over the European Parliament in 1979. She also mentioned her father, a former Director-General at the Commission, who, at the end of his life, no longer referred to Europe as a work of peace between countries that had fought each other, but compared it to a long-time couple for whom "love is not greater every day, but deeper".
Before illustrating her concrete proposals for the next institutional cycle (see EUROPE 12296/1), the nominated candidate recalled some key guiding principles inherited from the founding fathers and intended to guide Europe's action in the face of the challenges of globalisation.
Faced with the feeling of our fellow citizens of "losing control", "there have been different ways to react to these trends. Some are turning towards authoritarian regimes, some are buying their global influence and creating dependencies by investing in ports and roads. And others are turning towards protectionism", said Mrs von der Leyen. She also added: "None of these options are for us. We want multilateralism, we want fair trade, we defend the rules-based order (...). But if we are to go down the European path, we must first rediscover our unity. If we are united on the inside, nobody will divide us from the outside".
The nominee then reiterated the concrete measures she had detailed during the hearings before the Parliament's political groups (see EUROPE 12293/2), then specified or even amplified in written replies to the social democratic S&D and liberal Renew Europe groups.
Her proposals to make the European Union the continent at the forefront of the fight against climate change - raising CO2 emission reduction targets to "50% or even 55%" by 2030 to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, carbon tax at the EU's borders, European Climate Bank - have been rather well received. She promised an envelope of "1000 billion euros", which would be mobilised to finance a European sustainable investment plan over the next ten years.
On behalf of the Greens/EFA Group, Belgian Philippe Lamberts said that Mrs von der Leyen's performance and writings certainly constituted "a clear progress", particularly on the question of an ecological transition that must be socially just. Nevertheless, he criticised the nominee's silence on the loss of biodiversity and the "disastrous impact" of the Common Agricultural Policy.
On economic and social issues, Mrs von der Leyen outlined a vision based on the German concept of a social market economy, with economic competitiveness not going against workers' rights. Large companies, especially digital ones, will have to pay their fair share of taxes where they make their profits. And full-time workers should benefit from a minimum wage throughout the EU, while those affected by the crisis should benefit from a European unemployment insurance system. A 'Children's Guarantee' would also be created, along the lines of the 'Youth Guarantee', to combat child poverty.
Agreeing with the German on gender parity and the fight against violence against women, S&D Group President Iratxe García of Spain considered it "crucial" that no citizen remain by the side of the road, especially in the context of the transition to a low-carbon economy. She therefore welcomed Mrs von der Leyen's proposal to create a fund for a just transition. She also argued that European budgetary rules should not penalise public investment aimed at achieving this transition.
Raffaele Fitto (ECR, Italy) asked the nominated candidate how she would finance the European unemployment insurance system and, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group, Martin Schirdewan of Germany castigated austerity economic policies that had not borne fruit. "If we want to change the economy, we must invest in sustainable infrastructure", he said, recalling that "113 million people live in or are threatened by poverty". He considered Mrs von der Leyen's speech "very vague" on tax issues.
Referring to the migration challenge, the nominated candidate was particularly applauded when she considered that Europeans had a "duty to save lives" in the Mediterranean, a sea "that has become one of the deadliest in the world". She called for a thorough review of the reform of the European asylum system in order to find new forms of "solidarity" between Member States, but without clarifying specific measures.
In response, Mr Lamberts urged her to endorse the European Parliament's position formulated as early as 2017 (see EUROPE 11887/6) and to defend it to Member States, which were unable to agree on this thorny issue. Mrs von der Leyen also reiterated that the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (ex-Frontex) should have 10,000 operational staff in 2024 and not 2027.
With the establishment of a European mechanism to monitor respect for fundamental values in all Member States, which will complement existing tools, "the Commission will defend the rule of law wherever it is attacked", Mrs von der Leyen also promised.
This proposal is intended to satisfy the Liberals' requests, which are at the root of this idea. Mrs García and Raffaele Fitto wanted to know more about this mechanism, but for different reasons. The former wanted assurances that the Commission would take over the torch passed on by the Juncker Commission through the action of Frans Timmermans, while the latter criticised the European level's interference in national sovereignty.
Many MEPs mentioned the importance of keeping alive the process of top candidates ('Spitzenkandidaten') through which the candidate of the winning European party in the European elections would chair the European Commission, if supported by a political majority in the European Parliament. This reflection will be further developed at a conference on the future of the EU in 2020, according to the Christian Democrat.
Unfortunate Spitzenkandidat of the European People's Party, the leader of the EPP Group in the European Parliament, Germany's Manfred Weber, called for respect for the voters' vote, deploring that "democratically nominated candidates (were) considered as not eligible" for high European office. Mrs García, whose Socialist Group defended the candidacy of Spitzenkandidat Frans Timmermans to the end, said that "European democracy is moving too slowly". Despite the burying of the process of top candidates by the European Council (see EUROPE 12287/1), she assured that her group was not looking for an institutional crisis, suggesting a majority favourable social democratic vote. "We had planned to vote only for one Spitzenkandidat and this Tuesday we will keep this promise", said SPD party leader Jens Geier (S&D, Germany).
On behalf of the Renew Europe group, Romanian Dacian Cioloş considered that the Spitzenkandidaten process should be finalised by the end of the new legislature. The funeral of the process in 2019 was mainly the work of the French President, Emmanuel Macron, affiliated with the Liberals, who accused the Christian Democrats of having buried the concept of transnational lists of candidates for the European elections.
As for Brexit, Mrs von der Leyen saw positively the agreement on the British withdrawal, which offers security for citizens. She expressed her readiness to consider further postponement beyond the 31 October date, if justified. "Thank God we are leaving", Nigel Farage replied on behalf of the Brexit Party, calling the designated candidate a "fanatic" of a European army acting against NATO's interests.
Confirming the nationalists' willingness to oppose the election of the German Christian Democrat, Belgian Jörg Meuthen of the Identity and Democracy Group felt that she was not suitable to chair the Commission, describing her remarks as "a classic speech from the centre with empty promises".
See the programmatic document of Mrs von der Leyen: http://bit.ly/2Ybwpts (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion and Lucas Tripoteau)