European Union|On Thursday morning, Ursula von der Leyen will give a speech in Strasbourg that will ultimately decide whether the European Parliament supports her appointment as Commission President.
Strasbourg
European the parliament will decide today, Thursday, whether the German can Ursula von der Leyen for the next term under the leadership of the European Commission.
The stakes are high in the vote, which starts at 2 p.m. Finnish time. If von der Leyen does not manage to get the majority of MEPs behind him, he will not get a new attempt. In that case, the European Council, consisting of the leaders of the EU countries, would have to appoint a new candidate for the head of the Commission within a month.
The failure of Von der Leyen’s appointment could jeopardize the entire top appointment package in June, in which the ex-prime minister of Estonia Kaja Kallas appointed EU foreign policy representative and ex-prime minister of Portugal António Costa President of the European Council. Turbulence could last a long time.
So von der Leyen has spent the last few weeks in the European Parliament gathering support for his appointment. There are 720 MEPs in the Parliament, of which 361 should vote in favor of the appointment.
Von der Leyen has met with political groups, delegations of member states and even individual MEPs. Through the debates, he has tried to forge what kind of program he will use to get the support of the majority of the parliament behind him.
This is the program that von der Leyen will present in his speech to the plenary session in Strasbourg on Thursday morning. The speech is highly anticipated, as it will ultimately decide who is ready to vote for von der Leyen’s appointment.
Von der Leyen gathers behind him a coalition, the core of which is formed by the three middle groups, i.e. the center-right EPP, the social democrats S&D and the liberals Renew. They have a total of 401 seats in the parliament.
However, group discipline is not liked in the Parliament, and the vote is organized as a closed ticket vote. Because of this, there is a big risk that the support of the three groups will not be enough to secure the appointment. That’s why von der Leyen is trying to attract the Greens and parts of the far-right ECR.
To please such a motley crowd, von der Leyen has to place his words carefully and strike a balance between conflicting expectations.
The greens Ville Niinistö says that a large part of the group will probably vote for von der Leyen if he repeats the key promises to the group in his line speech on Thursday morning.
“The science-based, 90 percent emission reduction goal for 2040 must be there, as well as some goals for nature,” says Niinistö.
On the other hand, Niinistö expects that von der Leyen’s policies regarding immigration and Palestine will be difficult for the Greens to accept.
Continuation of the Green Deal and the 2040 climate goal are also part of S&D’s demands, says Eero Heinäluoma (sd). In addition, the group also wants a common investment fund for the EU. However, it would not be financed with joint debt but with new EU taxes, says Heinäluoma.
“It is also interesting to hear what he says about supporting the EU’s eastern border regions.”
Instead, sitting in the ranks of the liberals Elsi Katainen (Centre) says it expects von der Leyen to promise “more realistic environmental thinking”. The group also expects, among other things, promises to strengthen defense and security.
ECR’s Nordic MEPs, basic Finns Sebastian Tynkkynen including, said on Wednesday that they would vote against von der Leyen’s appointment.
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