Ursula von der Leyen has a good chance of becoming president of the European Commission again. Although right-wing populist parties have made strong gains, their European People’s Party (EPP) has performed better than expected. Who will get which EU top job will be discussed in Brussels on June 17.
The provisional decision could fall to Ursula von der Leyen as early as the end of June, because French President Emmanuel Macron is weakened and there is no real alternative, says political scientist Sophia Russack of the Brussels Center of European Policy Studies (CEPS). In any case, the election result puts the EPP ‘in a very good position’.
More than a quarter of the seats go to the EPP
The President of the European Commission has already announced talks with the Liberals and Social Democrats (see video above). According to the preliminary election results, your EPP will have 185 seats (out of 720 seats), while the Social Democrats remain the second strongest camp. This is followed by the liberals and the right-wing populist party alliances EKR and ID.
If Von der Leyen wants to take up a new term of office, the European Council must nominate her by a majority. This means that thirteen heads of state and government from the same family and at least three more from large member states must vote for Von der Leyen.
Guntram Wolff, leading economist at the Bruegel think tank, said the EPP had now moved closer to right-wing populist positions, but he did not know whether this had “really reached citizens” in areas: migration and climate change.” The right seems to find “simple solutions to complex problems,” Russack said.
Fear that climate protection is too strict?
According to Wolff and Russack, the fear of many Europeans about a course that is too migration-friendly and too strict climate protection measures contributed to the decision about the elections. “People know that climate change is a problem, but there are so many other problems than in 2019,” the German political scientist analyzed. Now “it’s about war and peace, people have less money, which puts even more pressure on them.”
Source: Krone
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