Ursula von der Leyen won a second five-year term as head of the European Commission yesterday thanks to an ambitious list of promises that include creating a "defense union" on the continent and staying on course for Europe's green transition while easing the burden on industry.
Members of the European Parliament supported von der Leyen with 401 votes in favor and 284 votes against in a secret ballot in the 720-seat assembly.
But to secure enough support in the European Parliament, she has expanded her executive to-do list and raised expectations across the EU political spectrum on a range of issues that have long frustrated officials in Brussels.
In an address to Parliament earlier yesterday, Von der Leyen, 65, presented a program focused on prosperity and security, shaped by the challenges of Russia's war in Ukraine, global economic competition and climate change.
"The next five years will define Europe's place in the world for the next five decades. It will decide whether we will shape our own future or allow it to be shaped by events or others," Von der Leyen said before the vote.
Mujtaba Rahman, from the consultancy Eurasia Group, told the "Financial Times" that Von der Leyen could "put herself in a position to fail" by committing to things "that are not particularly coherent" in order to secure the support of a broad coalition.
She faces a large number of challenges, and one of the first is to assemble a team of commissioners, during which she needs to reconcile the ambitions of the members. The moves he will make in the coming weeks will determine how the EU will defend its internal market against big corporations, how the bloc will strengthen its defense industry in the face of a possible second term of office for Donald Trump and how it will ensure the bloc is ready for climate neutrality by 2050.
The centre-right former German defense minister has promised to create a "real European Defense Union" with leading projects in the field of air and cyber defence. The plan drew criticism from the Kremlin, which said it reflected an attitude of "militarization and confrontation."
Apart from Russia, von der Leyen's defense plan could also face resistance within the EU.
While most EU members agree on the need for joint investment in defence, few are willing to delegate decisions about what equipment to buy, where to produce it - or how to pay for it. France and Germany, for example, have opposing ideas about pan-European air defense projects and want to protect their domestic arms manufacturers. "There are some for whom this idea causes discomfort," said Von der Leyen. "But what should make us uncomfortable are the threats to our security."
Defense policy in Europe has traditionally been the domain of national governments and NATO, Reuters points out.
Asked about the possibility of dealing with a protectionist and isolationist US administration under Donald Trump, von der Leyen said the EU is working to "reduce our dependencies" regardless of elections elsewhere. "We work closely with our friends and allies, that's absolutely clear," she told reporters. "But it also involves building our own strength."
The President of the Commission pledged to make national payments from the EU budget conditional on respect for the rule of law and structural reforms, while she will extend conditions such as respect for democratic norms and fundamental rights to all EU funds. "In our budget, we will maintain a very clear principle: respect for the rule of law is mandatory for access to EU funds. In this budget, and in the future," she said.
The Commission currently has the power to withhold certain parts of EU funds for violations of the rule of law. This caused conflicts with Poland and Hungary, but was seen as an effective tool to halt democratic backsliding.
The tightening of access to EU funds will gain the support of richer countries that want stricter control over the common money, but will likely encounter resistance from countries that see such moves as political blackmail and overstepping Brussels' powers in internal affairs.
Among them is certainly Hungary, whose leader Viktor Orban was criticized by von der Leyen yesterday, condemning his recent visit to Moscow as a "mission of adulation".
Von der Leyen also presented an ambitious green agenda, which certainly contributed to the fact that the deputies from the ranks of the Greens joined the informal alliance of parties that support the new, old head of the EC. She promised stricter border controls of the European Union as well as stronger police cooperation against crime.
However, this was not enough to secure her the support of Prime Minister Djordje Meloni's right-wing party Brothers of Italy, which announced that they had voted against her.
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