News. Views differ widely, however, … The Spanish and Portuguese delegations, pressed by Prime Ministers Pedro Sánchez and António Costa, said they would vote in favor. Letter to EU Commission President von der Leyen. It's only a bit … Under her watch, Germany introduced a law guaranteeing every child over 12 months of age a place at a daycare facility, and a paid parental leave scheme that includes at least two months of paid leave for fathers. Latest news, analysis and comment on elections in Europe and beyond. However, the S&D group was sharply divided over whether to back von der Leyen, with the French,  German, Austrian, Belgian, Dutch, and Greek delegations all saying in an internal group meeting that they would vote against her, according to a party official. Von der Leyen, from the center-right European People’s Party, served most recently as German defense minister and is a close ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel. Latest news, analysis and comment on security in Europe and beyond. We were too optimistic on … Latest news, analysis and comment from POLITICO’s editors and guest writers on the continent. EU top jobs explained: who is coming in and what is their role? In-depth reporting, data and actionable intelligence for policy professionals – all in one place. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has admitted a country on its own - such as the UK - can act as a "speedboat" compared to the EU's "tanker" in the delivery of COVID vaccines. We were too optimistic about mass production. Ursula von der Leyen: EU commission president cleared in ‘contract scandal’ The German politician has admitted ‘mistakes’ were made by her officials Click to expand... And a fine record of same! Von der Leyen will also be trailed to Brussels by an investigation, still underway in the German parliament. Share × × × × BECOME A MEMBER OF IRU | Find out more . Posted on 2020-10-05. 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If there is one quality the European commission’s first female president shares with her mentor Angela Merkel, it is that her political persuasions can be difficult to classify. After she joined the CDU in 1990, on the same day her father stepped down from his job as state premier, her inner freedom made its mark on the posts she held, first as a regional and national delegate and then at the family, work and defence ministries. In an interview for Portuguese media, Von der Leyen was asked regarding the proposal of […] “You see me still overwhelmed,” she said told reporters. Johnson And Johnson Vaccine Could Be Approved Today. 1 … Go to page. Center-right nominee becomes first woman to lead EU. English. Today at 4:47 PM #85 jpc. Von Der Leyen Elected As First Female EU Commission President. Campaigning, lobbying and political influence in the U.K. What’s driving the day in Paris, en français, The weekly digest of the best stories in U.K. politics. She will be the first German to lead the EU in more than a half-century, since Walter Hallstein served from 1958 to 1967. She then applauded briefly herself. As Parliament President David Sassoli announced the tally, von der Leyen briefly placed her hand over her heart and exhaled through pursed lips in a demonstrative display of relief. An earlier version said Ursula von der Leyen is not afraid to raise heckles, rather than hackles. But if her father’s career enabled her international upbringing, it also allowed Von der Leyen to step out from his shadow. Follow POLITICO’s live blog for the latest news, reaction and analysis after von der Leyen’s election. Only this: in 1978 I immersed myself for one year in this seething, international, colourful city. Ursula von der Leyen snub: EU chief refuses to sign name for global response to pandemics Sadiq Khan hit with veiled attack from police watchdog - 'Undermining trust in Met' Most … You might like. Von der Leyen won 383 votes in a secret ballot, just slightly above the absolute majority of 374 she required to be elected — and far short of the 422 votes cast in favor of current Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in 2014. News. STRASBOURG,— Germany’s Ursula von der Leyen secured European parliamentary approval on Tuesday to become the first female European Commission president on a platform of a greener, fairer and rule-based Europe.. And maybe we also took for granted that the doses ordered would actually arrive on time”, she said. There were 327 votes in opposition, 22 abstentions and one vote declared invalid. Germany's Ursula von der Leyen has been narrowly elected president of the EU Commission following a secret ballot among MEPs. By logging in, you confirm acceptance of our POLITICO Privacy Policy. Von der Leyen, from the center-right European People’s Party, served most recently as German defense minister and is a close ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel. “I lived much more than I studied,” she told the weekly Zeit. She attended the European School in Uccle, graduating two years before a certain Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson joined the same establishment. Who we are; Our values; Annual report; Where we work; Organisation; What we do ; Being the … Thread starter blue velvet; Start date Jul 2, 2019; Prev . Some EU officials said failing to cross the politically significant threshold of 400 votes signaled that von der Leyen would face an extremely difficult task governing in partnership with a Parliament that is more diverse and divided than at any other point in the EU’s modern history. Connect with us . Sassoli, for his part, said: “There’s a lot of hope here. She also reiterated some of her policy goals, including in combating climate change. Ursula von der Leyen’s political persuasions, like those of her mentor Angela Merkel, are difficult to classify. The Greens group, as well as right-wing and left-wing parties, had previously announced their intention to vote against von der Leyen, and the result suggested they had generally followed through on that pledge. In Brussels and Berlin, she will have two stages to manage. “If she has a weakness, it is her tendency to excessive stage management,” said Goffart. Switching to study medicine, she later worked as an assistant physician at a women’s clinic in Hanover and graduated as a doctor of medicine in 1991. Go. A parliamentary committee is investigating the ministry for accusations of nepotism, and Von der Leyen is expected to be invited as a witness in December. Turkish President Erdogan HUMILIATES EU chief Ursula von der Leyen ****News Topic 360***** EU-Turkey Relations: Erdogan Left Europe Commission President Speechless After Humiliating Snub. If you do not have a login you can register here. Latest news, analysis and comment on migration in Europe and beyond. News. For me, coming from the rather monotonous, white Germany, that was fascinating. “You especially saw that in her bitter and protracted battle to modernise her party’s view on the role of the family.”. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has gone into quarantine following contact last Tuesday with a person who later tested positive, according to the Commission. Unlike Germany’s consensus-seeking chancellor, however, she is not afraid to raise hackles and divide opinion to drive through the policies she believes are right. STRASBOURG — The European Parliament on Tuesday elected Ursula von der Leyen as the next president of the European Commission — the first woman to hold the EU’s top executive job. Contact us . News. And another thing I have kept: the realisation that different cultures can get on together very well.”. As some act to stall progress, the forward motion provided by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and all she represents is a remarkable step forward. “No details, please. Download now. News. This article was amended on 17 July 2019. Ursula von der Leyen was left without a seat at a summit in Ankara on Tuesday after her two male counterparts took the only available chairs, leaving her to perch on a nearby sofa. Among her critics, the 60-year-old Von der Leyen has a reputation as an Einzelgängerin, a lone wolf with an instinct for front page-grabbing interviews and photo ops, but lacking the gift to pass the inner freedom driving her career down to the teams she works with. EU Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen. The President represents the Commission in European Council meetings, G7 and G20 summits, summits with non-EU countries and major debates in the European Parliament and the Council. One of seven children, she was raised in a Christian household that adhered to the traditional model of the West German nuclear family. Ursula von der Leyen has been picked to replace Jean-Claude Juncker as president of the EU Commission when he steps down on November 1. More recently, Von der Leyen grabbed negative headlines over the accusation that her defence ministry had allocated over-inflated contracts worth hundreds of millions of euros to external consultants. If Von der Leyen’s approval ratings have recently plummeted, making her the least popular minister in Merkel’s cabinet, it is because her handling of Germany’s notoriously under-funded military at times displayed those same deficiencies. Aside from the divided European Parliament and her narrow margin of victory, von der Leyen will also be trailed to Brussels by an investigation, still underway in the German parliament, over allegations of mismanagement and misspending at the defense ministry during her tenure. Ursula von der Leyen of Germany won confirmation as the next president of the European Commission, becoming the first woman set to assume Europe’s most powerful policy-making post. Your confidence in a Europe that will take the big challenges of our times together.”. News. The German conservative got the thumbs up from socialist and liberal lawmakers which, together with the endorsement by her fellow conservatives, gives her a stronger mandate to … At a news conference with Sassoli after leaving the hemicycle, von der Leyen thanked her transition team and said she planned to spend her summer in Brussels preparing for her new job. In a sign of how thin and fragile her mandate appeared, she also immediately faced questions about the possibility that her majority, which included the support of some British MEPs, would effectively evaporate in the event that the U.K. completes its departure from the EU. PI Member. “I want to move Europe forward in the next five years to a climate-friendly Europe, a climate-friendly Continent, a Europe that serves people,” she said. An A+ for self advancement as well. During her time in charge of the family ministry, she was first called Krippen-Ursel (“crèche Ursel”), a conservative closet feminist set on expanding nursery places, and then Zensursula, a control freak who wanted to shield German youth from the dark sides of the internet. Out of 733 MEPs, 383 voted in favour of Von der Leyen, helping her to secure the 374 votes -- an absolute majority among the EU assembly members. The Telegraph - The EU Commission president was denied a seat next to the Turkish president while her Council counterpart sat at his side EU leaders were left embarrassed when Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen was relegated to a sofa during a meeting with Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Tuesday, … Clarke-Connolly said: She is Useless Though. The President of the European Union Commission Ursula von der Leyen supports the idea of a common vaccination certificate, which can be established by the EU, and issued by the Member States to every person who gets vaccinated against COVID-19. Born in October 1958, Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen spent her first 13 years in Brussels, where her father was one of the first pan-European civil servants. The tight margin of von der Leyen’s victory suggested that she may have needed the help of some other parties, including Italy’s populist 5Star Movement, which is not affiliated with any group in the Parliament. Latest news, analysis and comment from POLITICO’s editors and guest writers on German politics. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen says she has placed herself in isolation after being in contact with a person infected with coronavirus. New European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen emphasised the importance of a stronger Europe as she was sworn into office on Sunday. She forced Merkel to drop her opposition to boardroom quotas for women, even though the policy was later defeated in the Bundestag. Von der Leyen had the declared backing of the three mainstream, pro-EU groups — the center-right European People’s Party, the Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats (S&D), and the centrist-liberal Renew Europe group. EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is self-isolating after coming into contact with a person infected with Covid-19. News. May 7, 2018 5,284 7,998. The nicknames Ursula von der Leyen has acquired over the course of her 29-year career in German politics tell their own story about the new president of the European commission. Go. “For me, London was the epitome of modernity: freedom, the joy of life, trying everything. Von der Leyen had attended the summit of EU heads of state and government on Thursday and Friday. EUROPEAN Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has told MEPs in an address at the European Parliament this morning (February 10) that they were “not where it wanted to be” with regards to vaccine production.-- ADVERTISEMENT --“We were late with the approval. Covid-19; Covid-19 Infected … Ursula von der Leyen, the incoming president of the European commission, likes to remind audiences she was “born in Brussels as a European”. Latest news, analysis and comment on defense in Europe and beyond. EU Commission Opens Investigation Into Insurance Ireland. EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen | Frederick Florin/AFP via Getty Images, Campaigning, lobbying and political influence in the EU. Instead of attending CDU summer fetes in rural Lower Saxony, said her biographer Goffart, she preferred to spend weekends at the family home in Beinhorn near Hanover when her children were still young. Married since 1986 to a physician, Heiko, and mother to seven children, Von der Leyen has juggled a prolific career with family life – at the cost of popularity within her own party, some say. Ursula Von der Leyen New EU Commission President - who voted for her ? Officials Announce 631 New Coronavirus Cases And 47 Further Deaths. News. When she was studying economics at the University of Göttingen in the late 1970s, her father was informed that his family could be a potential target for the Red Army Faction, a terrorist group also known as the Baader-Meinhof gang, and that his daughter should consider moving to another university. Log in to access content and manage your profile. STRASBOURG — The European Parliament on Tuesday elected Ursula von der Leyen as the next president of the European Commission — the first woman to hold the EU’s top executive job. Latest news, analysis and comment from POLITICO’s editors and guest writers on French politics. A liberal in conservative clothing or a pious authoritarian matriarch? The European parliament has narrowly approved Ursula von der Leyen as the next president of the European Commission, replacing Jean-Claude Juncker at the helm of the EU ’s executive. The day after Turkey’s President Erdogan arrested ten admirals on fears of new coup rumblings … When she diagnosed the troops with an “attitude problem” after the emergence of stories about rightwing extremist activities and hazing of new recruits, she was accused – and not only by members of the Bundeswehr – of choosing a good write-up over loyalty to her staff. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen Admits EU was “Too Optimistic” about Vaccine Production. Her mother, Heidi, took a supporting role, at times leading a family choir that serenaded its patriarch on German TV shows, and stating: “The best way for me to gain the respect of the public is through the role of motherliness.”. Ms Von der Leyen attended a meeting in Portugal where a person tested positive; The meeting was on Tuesday and António Lobo Xavier tested positive yesterday; She took part in a summit of EU … Your confidence in a united and a strong Europe from east to west, from south to north. When she became Germany’s first female defence minister in 2013, her (mostly male) detractors referred to her as Flinten-Uschi (“shotgun Uschi”), a caricature of the bossy career woman. Von der Leyen was tested on Thursday with negative results, but had herself tested again on Monday. “She has an incredible amount of energy”, said Daniel Goffart, a political correspondent for the news magazine Focus who co-wrote her biography in 2015. This gave me an inner freedom that I have kept until today. President von der Leyen was appointed by national leaders and elected by the European Parliament after she presented her Political Guidelines. As state premier of Lower Saxony, her father, Ernst Albrecht, became a leading figure of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and a bete noire for the burgeoning Green movement, with whom he clashed over the opening of a nuclear waste depository. She smiled, raised an eyebrow and put her hand back on her chest and held it there, as applause erupted in the hemicycle. Published on: 20/01/2021 - 16:49 Author: IRU Type of document: IRU Documents Category: Coronavirus Region: Europe. “We were late in granting authorisation. “These were definitely the most intense two weeks of my political life.”. Subscribe to our newsletter . EU-Turkey Relations: Erdogan Left Europe Commission President Speechless After Humiliating Snub. Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen, the centre-right German defence minister, became the first woman to hold the presidency of the EU Commission following a secret vote among MEPs on July 17. Latest news, analysis and comment from POLITICO’s editors and guest writers in Europe. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made a startling speech last week in relation to widespread criticism of how Europe has so far handled the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out. Ursula von der Leyen baking cookies with her seven children in 2003. Your confidence in a Europe that is ready to fight for the future rather than fighting against each other. EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen self-isolating. “These were definitely the most intense two weeks of my political life” — Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, “I feel so honored and I am overwhelmed and I thank you for the trust you placed in me,” von der Leyen told the MEPs moments later. “The trust you placed in me is confidence you placed in Europe. Von der Leyen adopted the pseudonym Rose Ladson – a combination of her family nickname and the surname of her American great-grandmother – and enrolled at the London School of Economics. From ‘closet feminist’ to bossy career woman, detractors paint conflicting pictures of German politician, Last modified on Wed 17 Jul 2019 16.56 BST. Email. We have come out of our elections with the strength of citizens who want more Europe.”. The nicknames Ursula von der Leyen has acquired over the course of her 29-year career in German politics tell their own story about the new president of the European commission. Two chairs, three leaders: the European Commission hit out after its chief Ursula von der Leyen was left without a chair as Turkey’s president sat down for talks with her male counterpart. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is reportedly under pressure to resign her post, after a disastrous and shortlived decision to block vaccines traveling to the UK.