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Appointed by the Heads of State and Government to head the commission after laborious negotiations and after the leaders of the campaign were all removed, Ursula von der Leyen must now see his appointment confirmed by a vote of MEPs July 16th.
A seasoned politician, Angela Merkel's minister for 15 years, last week she had visited the elected officials of her camp, the EPP (the European right), but had waited for the anger to descend to the socialists and ecologists she met. Wednesday. Because with a Parliament without clear majority, every vote counts. Ursula von der Leyen is going to have some work to do today, she will have to harvest on July 16th at least 376 votes out of 751 to succeed, on November 1st, to the Luxembourger Jean-Claude Juncker.
The anger has subsided a little in the European socialists, but Ursula von der Leyen will not be welcomed with open arms this Wednesday morning, far from it. Leaders of the sling, the Dutch, still furious that their candidate Frans Timmermans was dismissed by heads of state. For a few hours last week, the left had dreamed of seeing him chairman of the commission.
Same mood among the Germans, the Belgians or the French. All of them want guarantees and they set the bar very high: protection of refugees, respect for the rule of law, social rights, ban on pesticides. As for the environmentalists, they decided to innovate: the hearing of Ursula von der Leyen Wednesday afternoon will be filmed and broadcast live, a first. Question of transparency, say environmentalists. It's also a way of cultivating their difference.
The exchange promises to be muscular: their leader has already warned. Carbon neutrality in 2050, use of pesticides, kerosene tax, reorientation of the CAP, for the MEP Ska Keller the account is not there. Environmentalists who currently have no position of responsibility are not even sure of landing a commissioner position.