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European Parliament re-elects Ursula von der Leyen as European Commission President

Statement by the Plenary of the European Parliament – Candidates for the Presidency of the European Commission (2024-2029)

The European Parliament elected Ursula von der Leyen as President of the European Commission in a secret vote on Thursday with 401 votes in favor.

The Parliament currently consists of 719 MEPs, so the required majority is 360 votes.

This will be Ursula von der Leyen’s second term as President of the European Commission. She was first elected by MEPs in July 2019.

The vote was conducted by secret paper ballot. 401 MEPs voted in favor, 284 against and 22 cast blank or invalid votes.

Before the vote, Ursula von der Leyen laid out her political priorities for the next five years in a debate with MEPs.

The President-elect of the European Commission will send a formal letter to the heads of state or government of the member states inviting them to nominate candidates for the position of European Commissioner. The Parliament will organize hearings for the nominations in the relevant committees after the summer.

The full list of commissioners then needs to be approved by Parliament. For more information please see the Parliament press kit.

Article 14 of the Treaty on European Union provides that the European Parliament “shall elect the President of the Commission”.

Ursula von der Leyen has been President of the European Commission since 2019 and is the leading candidate of the European People’s Party (EPP) in the June 6-9 European elections.