Parliament re-elects Ursula von der Leyen as Commission President

With 401 votes in favour, the European Parliament elected Ursula von der Leyen as President of the European Commission in a secret ballot on 18 July. This will be Ursula von der Leyen’s second term as Commission President. She was first elected by MEPs in July 2019.

Parliament is currently composed of 719 MEPs, so the necessary majority was 360 votes. The vote was held by secret paper ballot. 401 MEPs voted in favour, 284 against, and 22 cast blank or invalid votes. Ahead of the vote, Ursula von der Leyen presented her political priorities for the next five years during a debate with MEPs.

Next steps

The Commission President-elect will now send official letters to member state heads of state or government inviting them to put forward their candidates for European Commissioner posts. Parliament will then organise nominee hearings in the relevant committees after the summer. The full college of Commissioners then needs to be endorsed by Parliament. More information is available in Parliament’s press kit.

Background

Article 14 of the Treaty of the European Union provides that the EP “shall elect the President of the Commission.” Ursula von der Leyen has been Commission President since 2019 and was the EPP’s lead candidate in the 6 – 9 June European elections.