MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Von der Leyen gets second 5-year term at the EC helm

The German politician claimed her victory was that of the “pro-European Union, pro-Ukraine and pro-rule of law” democratic forces

The 65-year-old German politician Ursula von der Leyen was chosen once again Thursday by the European Parliament to chair the European Commission for a second five-year term with 401 votes against 284 out of a total 720-seat House.

“This is a very special and emotional moment for me,” said the conservative leader, who claimed her victory was that of the “pro-European Union, pro-Ukraine and pro-rule of law” democratic forces.

In her first five years in the post, Von der Leyen pushed the EU towards net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050, supported Kyiv, and also oversaw a huge post-pandemic investment campaign based on unprecedented levels of joint EU borrowing.

“Last time it was eight votes over the required majority and this time it was 41, so much better,” she added. These results send “a strong message of confidence and recognition of the hard work,” she underlined.

In the days leading to Thursday's announcement, Von der Leyen's candidacy was shadowed by alleged irregularities and overspending in Covid-19 vaccination campaigns. In the end, the campaign against her based on a 2021 case spearheaded by The Greens turned out to be unsuccessful despite judiciary rulings unbefitting Von der Leyen's management.

“The Commission did not give the public sufficiently wide access to the purchase agreements for Covid-19 vaccines,” the judges said. “The Commission did not demonstrate that wider access to those clauses would actually undermine the commercial interests of those undertakings,” the magistrates also found.

The Commission under her “did not sufficiently take into account all the relevant circumstances in order to properly weigh the competing interests, relating to the absence of conflict of interest and the risk of violation of the privacy of the data subjects,” the ruling by the bloc’s General Court on purchase agreements struck by the EU Commission in 2020 and 2021 worth “approximately €2.7 billion” also noted.