Ursula von der Leyen obtained, on Thursday, July 18, a new mandate at the European Commission after the vote in the European Parliament, with 401 votes in favor. Thus, the president of the European Commission obtained 31 more votes than in her first mandate, despite fears related to a secret vote against, even from within the parliamentary groups allied to the EPP.
The new European Commission is now being formed, and the candidates proposed by each country will be vetted, a process that may take months, but should be completed by October, when the newly formed institution will be operational.
But Ursula von der Leyen will face major challenges, both in terms of the extremist poles in the EP and in terms of the EU’s external relations, in a year with elections in the United States of America, which look set to be crowned with a victory of Donald Trump.
Political scientist Cristian Pîrvulescu, dean of the Faculty of Political Sciences within SNSPA, believes that Urs von der Leyen’s mandate will not be so difficult and points to the fact that her previous mandate was also difficult, considering that she had to manage the pandemic and the crisis the war in Ukraine.
“He managed to keep the key points, he already has experience and in fact everything will depend on how the political action will unfold. Already in France, the far-right has passed into an unfavorable position, it has not come out very strengthened at all. Ursula von der Leyen is braver now than 5 years ago, for example regarding Viktor Orban who is a born provocateur. So I am not convinced that it will be very difficult”, stated Cristian Pîrvulescu for Ziare.com.
Professor Pîrvulescu states that the difficulties for von der Leyen will begin with the discussions related to the Green Deal, although the new Commission could have a bit more ideological coherence.
“Do you know where the difficulty will begin? Then we will see what the new Commission looks like and how united it will be. Now, because he still managed to get support without the Fratelli d’Italia, there should be a bit more ideological coherence, because the big stake for this mandate, which is very difficult, is the Green Deal. The fact that he did not renounce it, although there is pressure from the People’s Party to do so, because the People’s Party are not the national liberals in Romania”, Pîrvulescu also said.
He explained that beyond the fact that it is political, the European Commission is also technical and that if it had a Strong Commission, it would also have a better mandate, with or without Trump in the White House.
“And Trump in the White House, if he doesn’t have a majority in the chambers, he will have a lot of difficulties, and now the option of Biden’s withdrawal is more than possible. When another candidate enters the race, it restarts. In fact, the attack greatly complicated Biden’s candidacy and Biden’s withdrawal creates a lot of problems for the Republicans,” he added.
The political scientist explained that if Biden disappears from the election equation, the Republicans are left without a part of the discourse against the Democrats and have to make a change of speech.
As for von der Leyen, Cristian Pîrvulescu says it is related to transparency.
On the other hand, political analyst Ion M. Ioniță, editor-in-chief of Historia Magazine, is of the opinion that Ursula von der Leyen received a consistent vote on Thursday, this being a clear success, but that her mandate will certainly be a difficult one , due to international uncertainties.
“The mandate will be extremely difficult, but the fact that Mrs. von der Leyen went through several major crises at the head of the European Commission gave her experience,” said Ion M. Ioniță for Ziare.com.
“Here, in this context, Europe shows stability and this is extremely important, practically, the European elections did not lead to disturbances, to periods of stability, a transition to the new structures of the European Union is made smoothly, the a little until now”, says Ioniță.
An advantage that Ursula von der Leyen has, says the journalist, is that the transition to the new European Commission will also be made by her, and the new Commission will be established without any breaks.
“We do not have a problem related to the occupation of top positions in the European Union, and the vote in the European Parliament showed this. Importantly, despite the rise of anti-European extremists, there is a solid pro-European majority in the European Parliament, and this will still allow the European Commission to be constituted, without rupture, because Mrs von der Leyen remains in office, so she herself will ensure transition, it will choose its European commissioners, after which it will appear again before the European Parliament for the final vote”, Ioniță also said.
The analyst also pointed out that another advantage of Ursula von der Leyen in this mandate is the fact that Antonio Costa is the president of the European Council, with whom she will have a different relationship compared to the one she had with former president Charles Michel.
“The major challenges remain, related to European security, related to Russia and those related to the future of transatlantic relations, because the news coming from across the ocean is not at all positive in relation to the transatlantic relationship and the vision of a possible new Biden-Vance administration, face of Europe, a future administration that could be much more reluctant to get involved in Europe, to ensure European security”, Ioniță also said.
He says it will be a challenge for Ursula von der Leyen to find lines of communication with a possible new Trump-Vance administration.
Ursula von der Leyen insisted at the start of the 2019 mandate that countries nominate one man and one woman to improve the gender balance at the top of the EU. It is expected to have such a requirement even now.
After names are presented, the EU begins a process that can take months to vet candidates for conflicts of interest, before MEPs question them in hours-long hearings about their plans for the job , appropriate G4Media.ro.
After the process is completed, the new EU Commission should be operational by October. Only then will he be able to start proposing new laws and modifying the existing ones.
Source: ziare.com
