By Kate Abnett
STRASBOURG (Reuters) – Ursula von der Leyen was approved by the European Parliament on Thursday for a second five-year term as president of the European Commission, the EU’s powerful executive body.
EU lawmakers voted to approve von der Leyen with 401 votes in favour, 284 against and 15 abstentions. She needed 361 votes to pass.
Here’s what you need to know.
VON DER LEYEN’S PLAN
Von der Leyen revealed her plan for a second term on Thursday morning, ahead of the vote.
Among her biggest pledges were a plan to launch EU defence projects starting with a European air shield, a commitment not to weaken Europe’s climate change policies, and more help for European industries struggling to compete with the U.S. and China while they invest in curbing emissions.
The next European Commission will propose a new competitiveness fund in the next EU budget to invest in cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligences, she said.
She also outlined changes on migration policy, including a new approach for the return of migrants, and plans to triple the number of European border and coast guards.
WHY DOES IT MATTER?
The European Commission drafts and proposes new EU policies and laws. It the only EU body that can do this.
It also proposes the EU budget, a massive pot of funding that, last time it was agreed in 2020, allocated 1.2 trillion euros for 2021-2027 – plus more to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.
These roles give the Commission considerable influence over rules that affect the EU’s 27 countries and their 450 million citizens – in areas like trade, competition among companies in the EU’s single market, farming and the environment.
As its President, von der Leyen determines which issues the Commission will prioritise – and which get billions of euros of EU money, with the agreement of EU governments.
At the start of her first term in 2019, she made fighting climate change her core mission. Since then, the EU has adopted the most ambitious package of emissions-cutting policies of any major economy in the world.
Von der Leyen also leads the EU response to emergencies, such as COVID-19 – during which, the Commission signed multi-billion-euro vaccine contracts. Some lawmakers sharply criticised the handling of these contracts and sued the Commission for refusing to disclose more information on them.
WHAT NEXT?
Now she’s got the job for another five years, von der Leyen’s will assemble her team.
Known as the “college”, this 27-member group includes a Commissioner from each EU country, proposed by the national government. Recent EU commissioners include former lawmakers, diplomats, government ministers and business executives.
National governments are expected to put forward their candidates by early August, although some have jumped the gun and already suggested names.
The first time around, von der Leyen – who is the first woman to head the European Commission – insisted countries submit a male and female nominee to improve gender balance at the top of the EU.
Once the names are in, the EU begins a months-long process of vetting the nominees for conflicts of interest, before EU lawmakers grill them in hours-long hearings about their plans for the role.
At the very earliest, that will be finished and the new EU Commission will be up and running by October. Only then can it get going with proposing new laws and changing existing ones.
(Reporting by Kate Abnett)
Comments