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| Ursula von der Leyen has been elected as the first woman to be president of the European Commission (AFP Photo/FREDERICK FLORIN) |
Strasbourg (France) (AFP) - German defence minister Ursula von der Leyen was narrowly elected president of the European Commission on Tuesday after winning over sceptical lawmakers.
The
60-year-old conservative was nominated to become the first woman to hold
Brussels' top job last month by the leaders of the bloc's 28 member states, to
the annoyance of many MEPs.
The
Strasbourg parliament would have preferred a candidate chosen by one of its
political groups, but in the end a small majority -- 383 members of the
751-member assembly -- voted for her.
She will
now replace Jean-Claude Juncker as head of the EU executive on November 1, one
day after Britain is due to leave the union, and serve a five-year term.
"The
task ahead of us humbles me. It's a big responsibility and my work starts
now," the polyglot mother-of-seven told lawmakers, thanking all members
"who decided to vote for me today."
"My message to all of you is let us work together constructively, because the endeavour is a united and strong Europe," she said, urging capitals to nominate an equal number of men and women to join her commission.
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Ursula von
der Leyen has still not managed to win over the Greens and the
far-left (AFP
Photo/FREDERICK FLORIN)
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"My message to all of you is let us work together constructively, because the endeavour is a united and strong Europe," she said, urging capitals to nominate an equal number of men and women to join her commission.
If von der
Leyen had lost, Brussels faced a summer of infighting instead of preparing for
Brexit, battling Italy over its debt and confronting Hungary and Poland over
threats to democratic values.
'A
majority is a majority'
At a news
conference after the vote, von der Leyen played down the narrowness of her win,
noting that a "majority is a majority" and acknowledging that some
members had opposed the nomination process.
"Two weeks
ago I didn't have a majority because no one knew me. There was a lot of
resentment because I wasn't a lead candidate," she admitted, adding that
she was happy to build a majority so quickly.
"It's
a good base to start with," she said. The veteran minister will head
briefly to Berlin on Wednesday to say farewell to her government and the German
armed forces, then return to work on building an administration.
In Berlin,
Chancellor Angela Merkel praised her long-time ally as a "committed and
convincing European" who would "tackle with great vigour the
challenges facing us as the European Union".
The president of the European Council of EU leaders, Donald Tusk, also congratulated von der Leyen, having previously declared "she will be a passionate fighter for Europe's unity."
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Brussels-born
Ursula von der Leyen won over a majority in the European
Parliament (AFP
Photo/Gal ROMA)
|
The president of the European Council of EU leaders, Donald Tusk, also congratulated von der Leyen, having previously declared "she will be a passionate fighter for Europe's unity."
From the
left, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez also offered his congratulations,
but said von der Leyen must push for "a more social, fair, sustainable and
feminist Europe."
Von der
Leyen has had only a short time since the 28 EU leaders nominated her to win
over the main centre-right EPP, socialist S&D and liberal Renew Europe
blocs she hoped would get her the necessary 374 votes.
In the
hours between her speech and the start of voting, party officials suggested she
could count on the centre-right, almost all of the liberals and maybe
two-thirds of the left.
The
election was by secret ballot, but the tight margin of victory suggested that
she had only won over the pro-European centre -- and that several mainstream
members abstained.
Top jobs
package
The nominee
announced Monday that she would step down from Angela Merkel's German
government this week whatever happened in the vote, underlining her European
ambitions.
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How the new
European Parliament's membership breaks down (AFP
Photo/Paz PIZARRO)
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Juncker
received 422 votes five years ago, and Brussels-born von der Leyen's 383 was
seen as disappointing in comparison, given she was backed by figures like
France's President Emmanuel Macron.
Von der
Leyen's nomination was part of a package of so-called "top jobs" and
outgoing Belgian premier Charles Michel is still in line to head the European
Council of EU leaders.
IMF
director Christine Lagarde's appointment to the European Central Bank also
remains on course, and on Tuesday the French former finance minister announced
her resignation from the global body.
In addition
to Brexit and the other issues facing the EU, member states are also wrangling
over new rules for distributing migrants and refugees after Italy's populist
government began to prevent rescue boats from landing.
For that,
the commission president will need a reliable majority in Strasbourg, after
this year's elections threw up a more fragmented EU parliament than ever.
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