The European People’s Party (EPP) has endorsed Ursula von der Leyen, current President of the European Commission, for a second term at a congress in Bucharest, Romania.
At 65, the German native was the only candidate from her party, which is the largest in the European Parliament. EPP members supported her with 82% backing, equating to 400 votes out of 489.
Von der Leyen infamously did not run as an MEP in 2019 – and was handpicked by Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron over Manfred Weber (EPP) and Frans Timmermans (S&D) – making a mockery of the Spitzenkandidat (leading candidate) system.
She is also not running as an MEP for the 2024 elections – further dismantling the leading candidate system, which was set up in 2014 to give a semblance of democracy to the process.
The European Council will propose to the Parliament, after the European elections, the nominee to preside over the European Commission for the next five years. For the candidate to be approved, there must be an absolute majority of votes cast.
Last weekend, the Socialists & Democrats (S&D) group voted for Luxembourgish politician Nicolas Schmit as their lead candidate. The Greens/EFA elected German and Dutch MEPs Terry Reintke and Bas Eickhout as their leading candidates.
