On Thursday 18 July in Strasbourg, the European Parliament re-elected German Christian Democrat Ursula von der Leyen by an absolute majority (401 votes in favour out of 360 required, 284 against, 15 abstentions, 7 invalid votes) for a second mandate as President of the European Commission, thanks to the support of the European Greens who gave her around 45 votes. In 2019, the President-elect of the Commission had obtained an absolute majority by just nine votes (see EUROPE B12297A1).