On Thursday 7 March, the European People's Party (EPP), Europe's main centre-right party, elected the current President of the European Commission Ursula von Der Leyen as its "lead candidate" for the presidency of the European Commission, a position that will be renewed following the European elections next June. The decision was made during the party's congress that ended on Thursday in Bucharest, Romania, with 410 votes in favor and 89 against. His intention to run for a second term last month was announced at a meeting of his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party in Germany.
Traditionally, the president is selected through the Spitzenkandidat mechanism, which requires that before the elections, each political party in the European Parliament announces its preferred candidate for this role. The European party that gets the most MEPs after the elections has the right to propose its candidate to the whole Parliament, which can decide whether to confirm him or not.
Polls give the EPP the lead for the European elections in June, so President von der Leyen has a good chance of winning a second term. For now, the current EU Commissioner for Labour, Nicolas Schmit, is vying for the position of the PES.
staff @europolitiche.it
