photo: europarl.europa.eu
BRUSSELS - On 18 July, the European Parliament elected Ursula von der Leyen as President of the European Commission by 401 votes in a secret ballot. Ursula von der Leyen will serve her second term as President of the Commission. MEPs elected her for the first time in July 2019. The Parliament is currently made up of 719 MEPs, so the required majority was 360 votes. The vote was held by secret paper ballot. 401 MEPs voted in favour, 284 voted against and 22 MEPs cast blank or invalid votes.
Before the vote, Ursula von der Leyen presented her political priorities for the next five years in a debate with MEPs.
Next steps
The President-elect of the Commission will now send formal letters to Heads of State and Government inviting them to propose their candidates for the post of European Commissioner. Parliament will then hold hearings on the candidates in the relevant committees later this summer. Parliament must then approve the entire College of Commissioners. Further information is available in Parliament's press material.
Background
Article 14 of the Treaty on European Union states that the EP "shall elect the President of the Commission". Ursula von der Leyen has been President of the Commission since 2019 and was the EPP's leading candidate in the European Parliament elections held on 6-9 June.
europarl.europa.eu/gnews.cz-jav_07
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