(CN) — Ursula von der Leyen, a 65-year-old conservative politician and former German defense minister, was reelected Thursday by the European Parliament to a second five-year term as the European Union’s chief executive.
In the face of doubts about her leadership and a rise in far-right forces following European elections last month, von der Leyen’s reelection was not guaranteed. She spent days horsetrading with political groups to secure the votes she needed.
Candidates for the EU’s top job are first chosen by national leaders and then confirmed in a secret vote by the European Parliament.
In the EU’s 67-year-history, the Parliament has always backed the candidate selected for the presidency. Von der Leyen, a member of the dominant center-right European People’s Party, became the first female commission chief in 2019.
In a speech Thursday morning, she laid out her mandate and vision for the commission’s direction. She got 401 votes after the address, comfortably winning an absolute majority in the 720-seat Parliament.
In her speech, von der Leyen put the economy and business interests at the center of her agenda. That comes amid a growing concern in Europe over soaring inflation and anemic growth, as the EU’s economic and social welfare models have been seriously tested by the coronavirus pandemic, war in Ukraine, global instability, massive technological change and the great-power rivalry between the United States and China.
“The fundamentals of the global economy are changing. Those who stand still will fall behind,” she said. “Those who are not competitive will be dependent.”
“The race is on, and I want Europe to switch gear,” she continued. “This starts with making business easier and faster.”
Von der Leyen promised to cut red tape, attract more investment, protect jobs, lower housing costs and boost defense spending across the EU. Her pro-business speech lines up with policies of the European People’s Party, the center-right bloc in Parliament that won June’s European elections, giving it the power to put forward a candidate for the top job.
“We must acknowledge how people feel today. We are in a period of deep anxiety and uncertainty for Europeans,” she said. “Families are feeling the pain from the cost of living and housing.”
Besides the economy, her speech also addressed the need to counter Russia and defend European democracies, including from threats from within.
“Russia is banking on Europe and the West going soft,” she said. “Europe will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
Von der Leyen called for deeper integration between EU member states on military matters — that is, for the so-called European Defense Union — and said EU nations need to pool their resources on defense.
She also called for the construction of a “comprehensive aerial defense system.” She said it would “not only to protect our airspace” but also act as “a strong symbol of European unity in defense matters.”
“For the first time in decades our freedom is under threat,” she said. “It is our responsibility to do all that is necessary to protect our European citizens. Protecting Europe is Europe’s duty.”
She said NATO would “remain the pillar of our collective defense” but stressed it was time for Europe to spend more on defense.
In 2019, von der Leyen put combating climate change at the center of her presidency — a response to a youth protest movement led by Greta Thunberg demanding climate action.
Once in office, her commission developed the European Green Deal, a pioneering set of laws and rules aimed at making Europe the world’s first net-zero continent by 2050.
Fast forward five years, and the Green Deal has become a contentious topic in Europe. Von der Leyen’s own conservatives are opposed to many aspects of it, such as the rapid phaseout of new combustion engines in automobiles. Von der Leyen herself scaled back its ambitions over the past year.
On Thursday, though, she pledged to stick Green Deal targets and touted the bloc’s success in expanding its renewable energy production under her watch.
“In the first half of this year, 50% of our electricity generation came from renewables — homegrown and clean,” she said. “Investments in clean technologies in Europe have more than tripled in this mandate.”
Von der Leyen said the commission would work on making the Green Deal “happen on the ground” by channeling investments toward infrastructure and industry that helps the EU move away from fossil fuels.
Her Green Deal pledges were seen as a reward to the Greens, who had supported her candidacy.
In 2019, the Greens voted against von der Leyen in a bid to pressure her into adopting pro-environment policies. This time, though, the Greens said they had to back her to ensure the defeat of far-fight forces in Parliament.
Von der Leyen also presented policies seen as rewards for the Parliament’s second biggest group, the center-left Socialists and Democrats. They too backed her candidacy.
She promised to help workers hit by technological advances, defend collective bargaining and turn the commission’s attention onto housing problems.
“Europe faces a housing crisis, with people of all ages and families of all sizes affected,” she said. “Prices and rents are soaring. People are struggling to find affordable homes.”
She said the commission would appoint its first-ever housing commissioner “to look at all the drivers of the crisis and to help unlock the private and public investment needed.”
In crafting her agenda, von der Leyen also presented plans to appease her fiercest critics: a large body of parliamentarians on the extreme right, most of whom were opposed to her reelection.
For those on the far-right, she pledged to boost spending for Frontex, the EU’s border patrol agency, and do more to fight organized criminal groups including human traffickers. She called for a tripling of the number of border officers to 30,000.
“We must also do more to secure our external borders,” she said. She also said the commission would appoint the first-ever commissioner to deal with issues surrounding migration in the Mediterranean region.
Courthouse News reporter Cain Burdeau is based in the European Union.