The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, received the endorsement of her conservative political family meeting in Bucharest on Thursday, a new step on her road to a second term.
The campaign is launched: the Congress of the European People's Party (EPP) - MEPs, party bosses and no less than 12 EU heads of state or government - officially endorsed the candidacy of the 65-year-old German.
After a mandate shaken by turbulence, from Covid-19 to the war in Ukraine, the former Minister of Defense wants to remain the face of the EU until 2029.
“
We have 90
days before the elections
”
, said she launched from the podium, thanking the audience for their
“
confidence
”
and their broad
“
support
”
(400 votes for, 89 against).
“
Now it’s time to take to the field and win hearts and minds
!”
»
His compatriot Manfred Weber, the president of the EPP group in Parliament, had previously praised
“
a solid leader
”
.
With her at the helm, Europe is
“
in good hands
”
.
“Sometimes divisive positions”
The leading political force in Parliament, the EPP is the favorite in the European elections scheduled for June 6 to 9.
“
Our peaceful and united Europe is challenged like never before.
By the populists, the nationalists, the demagogues.
Whether it is the extreme right or the extreme left ,
”
warned the candidate.
“
Their goal is the same
: to trample our values and destroy our Europe.
And we, the EPP, will never let this happen
.
”
The European vote will lead to a renewal of the leaders of the main EU institutions, including that of the Commission, which must reflect the political balance resulting from the ballot boxes.
Ursula von der Leyen's assessment
“
gives her a positive image
”
, comments Thierry Chopin, special advisor to the Jacques Delors Institute and visiting professor at the College of Europe (Bruges).
The first woman to occupy this position, she knew how to maneuver
“
in the face of crises, despite sometimes divisive positions
”
in foreign policy, on China and the Middle East in particular, he told AFP.
Discordant opinions are still being heard, particularly from the French right, which denounces
“
a form of technocratic drift harming our farmers
”
.
In the crosshairs, the Green Deal, the main legislative success of the President of the Commission, which has become a scarecrow for the sector mobilized en masse in recent weeks across Europe.
Inflection to the right
Faced with this discontent and the rise of far-right forces in the polls, Ursula von der Leyen has been making a shift for some time now, muting climate issues.
Another clear shift, the EPP now advocates a transfer of asylum seekers to third countries in the face of migratory pressure, in its manifesto adopted on the first day of the Congress.
“
It is we, the Europeans, who decide who comes to Europe and in what circumstances, and not the organized networks of smugglers and traffickers ,
”
insisted the official.
“
We observe that she is looking for votes on her right ,
”
notes the analyst, getting closer in particular to the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (far right) with whom she, for example, appeared in Kiev for the two years of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Invested by Parliament by a very narrow majority in 2019,
“
she knows that she must gather as many votes as possible to ensure a majority
”
if she were to be chosen by the heads of state and government of the Member States combined. in the European Council after the elections, he emphasizes.
Second group in number of seats, the European socialists launched their offensive this weekend in Rome with the Luxembourger Nicolas Schmit as headliner, insisting on
the
" importance
"
of the vote in the face of the threat of a wave
"
illiberal
”
at the ballot box.