Designated as favorite to become President of the European Commission, EPP frontrunner Ursula von der Leyen faces a difficult road ahead of her eventual (re)election by the European Parliament, where she needs a majority that is far from guaranteed.
As voting begins in the 2024 European elections, which will take place in the Union’s 27 member states from June 6 to 9, all polls point to a new victory for the European People’s Party (EPP) on a European scale. what has always happened in the 21st century is ahead of the European socialists, whose “main candidate” (or “spitzenkandidat”) is the Luxembourgian Nicolas Schmit.
However, even if the PPE’s declared victory is confirmed, theoretically entitling her to the most coveted top institutional position, and von der Leyen is effectively the name agreed upon by the European Council, a German leader who is aiming to equal the record of longevity as President of the Community Executive, who shared by Jacques Delors and Durao Barroso (10 years), will have to secure a (simple) majority in the “new” European Parliament in elections expected to be much more fragmented and with a presence strengthened by the far right.