The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, declared on Monday her candidacy for a second term for which the former German minister is well placed but which already promises to be delicate at a time when the far right is displaying its ambitions. Member of the CDU, the German conservative party long led by Angela Merkel, Ursula von der Leyen received the support of her political family gathered in Berlin on Monday. “We must continue to defend ourselves against those who divide us from within and without, we must strengthen ourselves (…) this is the task that I have set for myself,” she said in front of the press.
The unity of the Twenty-Seven has been put to the test over the past five years
During the five years she chaired the European executive, the unity of the Twenty-Seven was put to the test by Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russian offensive in Ukraine, the standoff between the United States and China. While she was elected by a narrow margin in 2019, imposed as a surprise candidate by the heads of state and government, Ursula von der Leyen, aged 65, is this time going into the campaign with a head start .
Scheduled for June 6 to 9, the European elections will lead to a renewal of the heads of the main institutions of the European Union, including that of the European Commission, which must reflect the political balance resulting from the ballot.
The European People’s Party (EPP) on track for the next elections
The European People’s Party (EPP), which includes Ursula von der Leyen’s CDU (Christian Democrats), has the most heads of state and government in the EU and should come out on top in the elections, according to polls. The former German Defense Minister, the first woman to head the Commission, is expected to be named by the EPP as its head of list for the European elections at a congress on March 6 and 7 in Bucharest, Romania.
But four months before the election, the far-right parties are not hiding their ambitions, driven by Europeans’ concerns about the economic slowdown, environmental regulations and asylum policy.
Several polls show a strong push by the Identity and Democracy (ID) group, which brings together Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN, France), the Belgian Vlaams Belang, the German AfD and the Austrian FPÖ. ID could become the third group in the Strasbourg hemicycle, overtaking the liberals of Renew, also neck and neck with the other radical right group making progress around Fratelli d’Italia of Giorgia Meloni, of Polish Law and Justice Party (PiS) and the Spanish Vox.
If the radical right emerges strengthened from the next elections, it risks toughening migration policy and making the adoption of numerous texts, in particular environmental legislation, more difficult. Aware of this competition, the conservative elected representatives of the EPP have fought for a year against flagship legislative projects of the Green Deal, including a text on the restoration of nature, which they have largely watered down, and a law to reduce the use of pesticides, of which they contributed to the rejection.
The idea of creating a new position of Defense commissioner
Faced with growing reluctance over environmental regulations, Ursula von der Leyen herself announced in the fall “a new phase” of the Green Deal, focused on business competitiveness. The strengthening of European defense should also occupy a central place for the future Commission, at a time when Europeans are worried about a possible return of Donald Trump to the American presidency which could call into question the role of Washington in the pacts of collective security.
Ursula von der Leyen wants to create, if she is re-elected, a new post of Defense Commissioner. “We must strengthen Europe’s defense capacity and I am thinking above all of the industrial base,” she said on Monday. Beyond supporting Ukraine against Russia, “it is about whether democracies prevail on a global scale and whether we are able to defend and protect our values. And the answer must be yes” , Ursula von der Leyen emphasized this weekend at the Munich Security Conference. The Social Democrats must nominate their candidate for the presidency of the Commission at the beginning of March.