A second term at the head of the presidency of the European Commission, in Brussels? From Berlin, where she was invited to a meeting of her conservative party, the CDU, Ursula von der Leyen announced her candidacy for a new five-year mandate (renewable once) as President of the European Commission this Monday, February 19. This former Federal Minister of Family, Labor and then Defense in Germany from 2005 to 2019 was officially invested in this position on December 1, 2019.
The European People’s Party (EPP), the leading political force in the European Parliament and of which Ursula Von der Leyen’s CDU is a part, should then, during a congress on March 6 and 7 in Bucharest, make it its candidate at the level of the European Union (EU) to once again chair the Commission. The new European Commission, which will have, like the current one, 27 members, one per state, will be formed after the European elections organized from June 6 to 9 which will renew the European Parliament. It will be up to the head of the European Commission to decide the composition of the college of commissioners and the specific roles to be distributed.
Different rules
As stated the All Europe site, the terms of election of the president of the European executive have evolved considerably since the beginning of European construction. In 1957, the Treaty of Rome provided that “the members of the Commission should be appointed by common accord of the governments of the Member States”. The president of the institution was therefore chosen at the discretion of the heads of state and government. These generally agree around a consensual personality, without too pronounced partisan commitment.
The rules have evolved since the 1999 European elections, following the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam. The European Parliament has in fact obtained a right of review over the appointment of the president of the European executive, whose appointment must be approved by Parliament, according to the treaties.
A new change in the regulations took place in 2014. Indeed, with the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, the European Council must now “propose” to the European Parliament a candidate “taking into account” the result of the European elections. “This candidate is elected by the European Parliament by a majority of its members. If this candidate does not receive a majority, the European Council, acting by qualified majority, proposes, within one month, a new candidate , who is elected by the European Parliament according to the same procedure”, states Article 17.7 of the Treaty on European Union.
It is then the Council of the EU, “by mutual agreement with the elected president”, which proposes the other members of the college of commissioners, “on the basis of suggestions made by the member states”. This college is then, as a whole, “subject to a vote of approval by the European Parliament” after the hearing of each commissioner.
Soon a Defense Commissioner?
After the renewal of Parliament in 2014, MEPs “imposed” the leader (“Spitzenkandidat” in German) of the European party that emerged victorious at the polls at the head of the European Commission. The Luxembourger Jean-Claude Juncker, who had led the campaign for the European People’s Party (EPP), had become the new president of the Commission. In July 2019, Ursula von der Leyen was elected by a narrow majority (nine) of MEPs, even though her name arrived very late in the discussions. She is the first woman to hold this position.
Thursday February 15, Ursula von der Leyen, 65, made it known through a spokesperson for the European executive that she is in favor of the idea of appointing a Defense Commissioner, at a time when the The EU is strengthening its military capabilities in the face of the war in Ukraine. This specific position does not currently exist, although the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, is working on the development of the European Union of the defense.
The Greens have already designated at the beginning of February their two heads of list at EU level for the European elections, the German Terry Reintke and the Dutch Bas Eickhout. The social democrats must nominate their candidate for the presidency of the Commission at the beginning of March.