European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the lead candidate for the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) triumphantly declared in Brussels last night that “no majority can be formed without the EPP.” This comes after exit polls show that the EPP is set to remain the largest group within the European Parliament.
“We are the strongest party. We are the anchors of stability and voters acknowledge our leadership in the last five years,” she said, adding that she had sensed ”a lot of confidence and trust” in the EPP and the European Union during her re-election campaign.
Though the EPP may well be the largest group and her words triumphant—she even thanked her campaign team—nobody actually voted for von der Leyen. In addition, her re-election as Commission president is not at all that sure. Neither European voters, nor the Parliament nominates the Commission president; it is the task of the European Council, i.e., the heads of member states’ governments. Only after this nomination does the Parliament weigh in on the nominee. Five years ago, Manfred Weber was the EPP’s lead candidate, but prime ministers chose von der Leyen—someone who did not feature in the European campaign at all—as the head of the Commission. This time around, many member states are rumoured to be unhappy with von der Leyen and could very well opt to go with someone else.
