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On July 18 at 1 pm (14:00 Lithuanian time), the plenary session of the Strasbourg Parliament will decide whether von der Leyen will continue to lead the European Commission for another five years.
To win a seat, the multilingual Germans must get at least 361 votes in the 720-seat parliament. Voting is underway and a new electoral committee is being formed following last month’s European Parliament elections.
EU leaders formally agreed to 65-year-old von der Leyen’s candidacy two weeks ago.
Under EU treaties, parliament must approve or reject their choice. If that happens, EU leaders will have a month to agree on another candidate.
While Ms von der Leyen is widely seen as having enough support in principle as she has rallied supporters over the past few weeks, the outcome is unclear.
“It’s a secret ballot, so we don’t know who might defect or default,” said Pascal Joanin, head of the Brussels-based Robert Schuman Foundation think tank.
Von der Leyen’s conservative European People’s Party is the largest faction in parliament. She and the center-left Socialists and Democrats and the liberal group Renew Europe are expected to have enough votes to be confirmed.
Even if some MPs from these factions vote against it, some MPs from other factions may make up the difference.
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