The German Ursula von der Leyen succeeds Jean-Claude Juncker. The German Defense Minister, a close friend of Chancellor Angela Merkel, was confirmed on Tuesday (July 16th) as President of the European Commission by the Strasbourg Parliament. The one taking office on 1 November, for a period of five years, obtained 383 votes out of 327. She had to obtain 374, the majority of the 747 members currently elected in Strasbourg.
Unknown abroad, she becomes the first woman to shoulder this responsibility. Unprepared for a role for which she was appointed in extremis by the Member States, the candidate had not yet triggered the enthusiasm of the political groups who auditioned last week.
This pillar of the CDU (Christian Democrat Union), however, is a regular on the political scene in Germany, where she has held key positions since 2005.
"She is rather unpopular but her knowledge of the issues has prevailed"
She is also familiar with European institutions, which her own father once frequented. "She is a European born in Brussels, at the time when her father was a Commission official herself, she went to the European School in Brussels, which explains why she speaks French and almost English. "says Pascal Thibault, correspondent for France 24 and RFI in Berlin.
Very controversial balance sheet at the Ministry of Defense
From an old aristocratic Hanover family, a trained doctor and 60 years old, Ursula von der Leyen is the mother of seven children. She successively held the positions of Minister of Family, Labor and, from 2013, Defense. She was once referred to as Angela Merkel's potential runner-up, but her controversial record in the defense ministry has hindered her ascent.
The obsolescence and under-equipment of the German army have been singled out under his tutelage. It was mainly attacked after the arrest of a German neo-Nazi soldier suspected of having fomented an attack in 2017. The management of this crisis was sharply criticized by the German military, Ursula von der Leyen denounced, at the time , the complaisance of the army vis-à-vis this lieutenant.
Moreover, considered a bad manager, she has become, in recent months, one of the most unpopular German ministers, according to the latest barometer Spiegel published in May. Ursula von der Leyen is thus embroiled in a case of suspicion of favoritism and corruption: her ministry has recruited external consultants without tendering, for tens of millions of euros of contracts. A case that is today the subject of a parliamentary commission of inquiry.
With AFP and Reuters