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Germany's Ursula von der Leyen, hoping to become the first woman to chair the European Commission, faces MEPs' votes in Strasbourg on Tuesday (July 16th). REUTERS / Francois Lenoir

Meeting in plenary this week in Strasbourg, the European Parliament is due to take a decision on the appointment of Ursula von der Leyen as head of the Commission. But that seems badly engaged.

With our correspondent in Brussels, Pierre Benazet

Three hundred and seventy-four. This is the number of MEPs Ursula von der Leyen, appointed by the Twenty-Eight to head the Commission , must convince to vote for her Tuesday in Strasbourg. A simple majority of the 747 seats currently occupied.

But his campaign started last week has never really taken off. Ursula von der Leyen has been rejected by the Ecologists and then by the extreme left, groups who will vote against her candidacy, while the centrist-liberals have meanwhile decided to wait until she speaks Tuesday morning in front of the plenary to give their opinion. This is not a very good omen, especially since the vote will be held at the end of the afternoon, which reduces its chances of convincing new members.

It is therefore this Monday that the German Defense Minister will have to try to gather. First of all, in her own party, the EPP, where she is not sure of getting full support. Then in the social-democratic group that asks for commitments on the defense of the rule of law. But if she takes these commitments, she risks alienating the Poles from the Law and Justice party (which she may need), they who have precisely rejected the candidacy of Frans Timmermans whose rule of law was precisely the workhorse .

For now, winning the presidency of the European Commission seems to be squaring the circle for Ursula von der Leyen.