Ursula von der Leyen confirmed as next European Commission president

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Her nomination was approved by 383 votes in a secret ballot on Tuesday evening at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.

There were 327 votes against her and 22 abstentions. After being elected by a narrow margin of just nine votes over the required 374, von der Leyen called for a “united and strong Europe.”

The 60-year-old outgoing German defense minister and multilingual mother of seven will succeed Jean-Claude Juncker, who has served as president since 2014.

She is now tasked with leading the EU’s executive body and providing political guidance to the Commission, which proposes new laws, manages the EU budget and is responsible for enforcing EU law.

Von der Leyen is a long-time ally to German Chancellor Angela Merkel. She is the only minister to have served in Merkel’s cabinet since she came to power back in 2005.

Her nomination to replace Juncker was unexpected since von der Leyen wasn’t even a candidate. Some have described her nomination as a backroom deal in Brussels.

Ahead of the vote, von der Leyen faced a lot of criticism, particularly from Merkel’s coalition partners — the Social Democrats (SPD) — who were upset that EU leaders ignored the top candidates after days of horse-trading.

European leaders nominated von der Leyen to lead the Commission after they failed to agree on any of the nominees put forward by European political parties ahead of the EU elections. Von der Leyen beat the original frontrunner for the role, Dutch socialist Frans Timmermans.



Source : Nbcnewyork