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EU leaders have endorsed a second five-year time period for Ursula von der Leyen as European Fee president, though she did not win the backing of Italy, the bloc’s third-largest member state.
A majority of leaders at a Brussels summit on Thursday evening agreed to von der Leyen remaining in submit, alongside selecting former Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa as the subsequent EU Council president, who chairs conferences of the 27 heads of presidency, and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas because the bloc’s subsequent chief diplomat.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni abstained, reasonably than supporting von der Leyen. Hungarian Premier Viktor Orbán voted in opposition to.
Meloni’s stance got here after she voiced her discontent that the three pivotal appointments had been proposed in a personal gathering of six EU leaders final week that excluded her and her hard-right political grouping, which carried out strongly in this month’s European parliament elections.
She mentioned the appointment course of was “incorrect in methodology and substance”.
“I made a decision to not assist it out of respect for the residents and the indications that got here from them within the elections,” Meloni added. “We proceed to work to lastly give Italy the burden it deserves in Europe.”
Von der Leyen informed reporters after the vote that she was “very grateful” for the endorsement. “Certainly, Giorgia Meloni abstained. I believe it is vitally vital to work properly . . . with the prime minister, with Italy, like with different member states. And it is a precept for me which I comply with on a regular basis.”
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte mentioned Meloni “clearly had her personal views on how this complete course of ought to have been performed. And she or he made her views recognized . . . with whole readability, however the shut private ties all of us have stay.”
Supported by Europe’s largest centrist events, von der Leyen had been anticipated to stay fee president, as EU capitals most popular continuity over change given the turmoil buffeting the continent as a result of warfare in Ukraine, tensions with China and political uncertainty in a number of the bloc’s key member states.
“Kaja, Ursula and Antonio accepted,” mentioned Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. “Satisfaction. For Poland and for Europe.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz mentioned the settlement on the EU appointments was “an vital sign. With them we will make good and fast progress.”
Von der Leyen should now win a majority within the European parliament to safe her second time period as head of the fee. A vote is scheduled to happen within the week of July 15.
A coalition of von der Leyen’s centre-right European Individuals’s occasion, the Socialists and Democrats, and the liberal Renew Group have about 410 seats within the 720-strong chamber.
However due to potential defections within the secret poll of MEPs, she may additionally want some votes from Meloni’s European Conservatives and Reformists group, which got here third within the European parliament elections.
The Greens are additionally a doable supply of assist for von der Leyen, however are prone to demand robust commitments on the EU’s bold local weather plans.
