European Commission president's bid for second term will come down to the wire
Ursula von der Leyen secured the presidency on the last occasion by only nine votes. Photograph: Wojtek Radwanski/AFP via Getty Imagesneeds 361 of the parliament’s 720 MEPs to support her in a crucial confirmation vote on Thursday afternoon, to secure a second five-year term as European Commission president.
Five years ago von der Leyen, then a relatively low-profile German minister, scraped over the line by nine votes. The margin of victory or defeat this time may be just as close. The vote will take place on Thursday at about noon Irish time, during the first sitting of the new European Parliament in Strasbourg, the French city where voting sessions are usually held once a month.
A minority of MEPs who sit within the three groups plan to break with their colleagues and refuse to vote for von der Leyen, who herself comes from the EPP. French and Slovenian MEPs from the centre-right grouping previously indicated they would not support her. Fine Gael’s four MEPs are voting for von der Leyen. Fianna Fáil’s four have said they will not back a second term, as have McNamara and Ó Ríordáin.
It looks increasingly likely she will win the support of some of the 53 MEPs from the Greens grouping, who mostly abstained or voted against her five years ago Von der Leyen will also secure a few votes from the nationalist, hard-right side of the parliament, possibly from Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party and others.
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