EU Parliament confirms Ursula von der Leyen’s EU Commission

The European Parliament has elected the new team led by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen into office. The MPs confirmed the 26 commissioners on Wednesday in Strasbourg with 370 votes in favor, 282 against and 36 abstentions. The next EU Commission can start its work as planned on December 1st.

Von der Leyen’s team received support in Strasbourg from her group, the European People’s Party (EPP) around the CDU and CSU, and from large sections of the Social Democrats and Liberals. Some Greens and far-right politicians from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s group had also announced that they would give their vote to the new commission. Extreme right-wing politicians voted against Ursula von der Leyen’s commission. The German AfD MP and parliamentary manager of the ESN parliamentary group, Christine Anderson, insulted the team as a “pure rubble force” without giving any specific reasons. The Austrian FPÖ politician Harald Vilimsky accused her – also without concrete evidence – of standing for mass migration, deprivation of freedom, warmongering and deindustrialization. He also criticized the size of the commission as inflated.

Von der Leyen promised MPs in Strasbourg that the new Commission would work “with all democratic, pro-European forces” in Parliament. In her second term in office, she wants to stimulate the European economy and raise more money for defense. With Andrius Kubilius, the EU will have its own defense commissioner for the first time.

The crisis in the European auto industry is making von der Leyen a top priority: she herself wants to conduct a so-called strategic dialogue with car manufacturers and suppliers. Von der Leyen’s deputy Stéphane Séjourné from France and Teresa Ribera from Spain are also expected to develop a legislative package to make industry in Europe more climate-friendly.

The vote came almost six months after the European elections, in which von der Leyen’s center-right EPP alliance received the most votes. She was then confirmed for her second term as EU Commission President in July and presented her dream team in September.

The nomination of the Italian Raffaele Fitto, who will in future be responsible, among other things, for reforms and the funding pot for regional development, caused a particular stir. The right-wing politician is seen by many in Brussels as politically moderate and pro-European. However, the Social Democrats in Parliament strongly objected to a right-wing politician from the government of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni being given a prominent position such as that of Vice President.

In return, the EPP, which also includes the CDU and CSU, initially blocked the appointment of the socialist Teresa Ribera as Commissioner for Competition Policy and Green Change. Conservative and right-wing MPs accuse the previous Spanish Environment Minister of failing to deal with the severe flooding in the Valencia region. The Hungarian Oliver Varhelyi, who was criticized for his loyalty to the authoritarian Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, was also controversial. Ultimately, however, after long negotiations, the major parliamentary groups reached an agreement so that Fitto, Ribera and Varhelyi can now take office.

Note: This article has been updated.