Biden congratulates von der Leyen, hopes to work with Antonio Costa too

US President Joe Biden has congratulated Ursula von der Leyen on her election to a second term as President of the European Commission, adding that he also looks forward to working with European Council President-elect António Costa.

“I look forward to working with you, President of the European Council. [António] Costa and the President of the European Parliament [Roberta] Metsola, as we build our strong partnership and face shared global challenges,” the North American leader said in a post on the X social network (formerly Twitter) on Thursday.

German Ursula von der Leyen of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party was elected on Thursday by the European Parliament (EP) in Strasbourg for a new five-year term as head of the European Commission with 401 MEPs voting in favor, more than the required 360.

During the vote, the candidate of the European People’s Party (EPP), nominated by the European Council, received 284 votes against, 15 abstentions and seven invalid votes.

Ursula von der Leyen became the first woman to head the European Commission, a position she was elected to for the first time in July 2019 with 383 votes in favour, 22 abstentions and one null vote.

Former Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa was elected at the end of June by the heads of state and government of the European Union (EU) as President of the European Council for a two-and-a-half-year term beginning on 1 December 2024.

The first session of the new European Parliament since the European elections in June began on Tuesday with a vote for the post of assembly president, for which Malta’s Metsola (PPE) and European Left candidate Irene Montero were running.

In the first round, Metsola was reappointed until January 2027 with a majority of 562 votes (out of 623 valid votes).