Almost four months before the European elections, the current President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced on Monday 19 February that she is a candidate to retain her position as head of the European Executive.
“Today I am making a conscious and thoughtful decision: I want to run for a second term”, the 65-year-old German official said at a press conference in Berlin, after receiving the endorsement of the German conservative party CDU, of which she is a member. The former German defense minister has held the position as head of the commission since the last European elections in 2019.
“We must continue to defend ourselves against those who divide us from within and without, we must strengthen ourselves. (…), This is the task I have set for myself”, she also said. While she was elected by the European Parliament by a narrow margin in 2019, imposed as a surprise candidate by heads of state and government, M.me Von der Leyen, aged 65, is leading the campaign this time with a key start.
The Green Deal and the war in Ukraine at the center of his first mandate
Scheduled for June 6 to 9, the European elections will lead to a renewal of the leadership of the Union’s main institutions, including the European Commission, which must reflect the political balance resulting from the elections.
During his first mandate, Mr.me Von der Leyen managed a massive European recovery plan worth a remarkable 750 billion euros, financed by an unprecedented common debt, a tangible symbol of European unity. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, he loudly expressed his support for Kiev and developed a strategy to end energy dependence on Moscow.
Throughout her mandate, she also forcefully defended the European Green Deal, particularly known for its climate-related aspect, even if it sometimes meant getting herself into trouble with her own political family, the European People’s Party (EPP, right). European Parliament.
