The candidate of the 28 EU leaders for the presidency of the European Commission, German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen, met on Thursday in Brussels with current Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk.
Speaking just after her discussion with Juncker, a Commission spokesman said it was a very amicable meeting “between two convinced Europeans”. They agreed to remain in close contact, the spokesman added.
For his part, Tusk expressed full support for the EU leaders’ candidate, tweeting:
In Strasbourg on Wednesday, Ms. Von der Leyen had indicated that she was giving herself two weeks to present her “vision” of Europe for the next five years, the duration of the commission president’s term of office
The European Parliament is scheduled to vote on her candidature at a plenary session from 15 to 18 July. Ms. Von der Leyen needs a minimum of 376 votes for her nomination to be confirmed, a result that does not yet seem guaranteed.
The Greens/ALE group, which has 74 parliamentarians, along with some of the 154 members of the centre-left S&D group have publicly rejected the “package” of designations for top European posts proposed by the Council, which is composed of heads of State and Government.
The Brussels Times
