By Ella Joyner -
Germany’s Ursula von der Leyen embarked on a charm offensive aimed at securing the European Parliament’s approval for her nomination as president of the European Commission.
Von der Leyen — currently German defence minister — flexed her European credentials, speaking French, German and English, while stressing an emphasis on rule of law, climate change and strengthened European Union defence cooperation.
During a hearing with the liberal Renew Europe group in parliament, von der Leyen pledged to work on introducing mechanisms to scrutinise the implementation of rule of law in each member state in her first detailed statements on her plans for the commission. Von der Leyen, whose nomination by EU leaders came as a surprise last week, must garner an absolute majority in parliament if she is to become the commission’s first female president. The vote could take place as early as Tuesday, but she faces an uphill struggle to get parliamentarians on board.
Many EU lawmakers, especially from the centre-left camp, are upset that leaders did not nominate one of the so-called Spitzenkandidaten (lead candidates) representing the parliament’s major political blocs in EU-wide elections in May.
Most parliamentary groups had vowed that they would only approve a lead candidate who had campaigned in the elections, a requirement that the long-serving German minister does not meet.
Von der Leyen’s name was put forward after none of the Spitzenkandidaten could muster a majority among EU leaders or lawmakers. She extended an olive branch to the parliament on Wednesday, acknowledging they had got off to a “bumpy start.” “I cannot heal the past, it is a fact,” she said, before praising the socialist lead candidate Frans Timmermanns and liberal candidate Margrethe Vestager, pledging to give both major portfolios in her commission.
She also committed herself to reforming the Spitzenkandidat process to strengthen the role of parliament and thus further democratize the bloc before the next European elections.
Despite these overtures, the socialist bloc has yet to decide on whether it will back her to take over at the helm of the EU’s executive branch. “We will take a decision next week,” said Iratxe Garcia, the head of the Socialists and Democrats group, after a closed-door meeting with von der Leyen, whose nomination she had previously described as “deeply disappointing.” Von der Leyen herself belongs to the centre-right European People’s Party, the EU’s largest group by parliamentary seats. — dpa
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