Negotiations as von der Leyen wins second term at the European Commission
Ursula von der Leyen has been voted in as the President of the European Commission for the second time, sparking a restructuring of the commissioners.
The re-election of von der Leyen as President of teh European Commission follows the elections in the June, where shifting groups of MEPs will have to confirm incumbent and new appointments:
- Commissioner for Internal Markets, Thierry Breton from France, is expected to be reappointed.
- Margarethe Vestager from Denmark is not expected to be proposed to continue her role as commissioner for the digital economy,
- Kadri Simpson from Estonia is also not expected to be reappointed to the energy portfolio.
- Maroš Šefčovič for the Green deal, including battery gigafactories and critical raw materials is expected to continue.
- The role of commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth is currently vacant and the roles may be split.
Von der Leyen was voted in with 401 votes, 41 above the majority required, on Thursday.
“This sends a strong message of confidence. I think it is also recognition for the hard work that we carried out together in the last five years in the last mandate. We have navigated the most troubled waters that our Union has ever faced,” she said.
“I will now focus on building my team of Commissioners for the next five years. In the coming weeks, I will ask [country] leaders to put forward their candidates. I will – as I did last time – ask for the proposal of a man and a woman as candidate. The only exception is, like last time, when there is an incumbent Commissioner who stays. I will interview the candidates as of mid-August, and I want to pick the best-prepared candidates who share the European commitment. Once again, I will aim for an equal share of men and women [and] the new team will get ready to successfully pass the Parliament hearings.”
commissioners.ec.europa.eu/index_en
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