BERLIN (Reuters) – The European Union’s main centre-right alliance will nominate Ursula von der Leyen for a second term as European Commission president at a congress in March if she wants to continue in the post, a senior EU lawmaker told Reuters.
Von der Leyen, a German Christian Democrat, has not yet said publicly whether she wants a second stint at the helm of the EU executive after her current term expires later this year.
Daniel Caspary, who leads the German Christian Democrat group in the European Parliament, made clear he expected the European People’s Party (EPP) family of centre-right parties to nominate her.
“The EPP will nominate Ursula von der Leyen as its lead candidate for the European elections at its European Congress on March 6 and 7,” Caspary said, adding, “If that’s what she wants.”
Being nominated as the EPP’s lead candidate would mean von der Leyen would also be its nominee for Commission president. She would then be in pole position to take the post if the EPP comes first in June’s European Parliament election, as polls currently predict.
Caspary’s comments add strength to the widespread assumption among diplomats and officials in Brussels that von der Leyen will seek and receive a second term as Commission president.
(Reporting by Andreas Rinke and Andrew Gray, Writing by Nette Nöstlinger, Editing by Rachel More)
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