Von der Leyen is seeking a second five-year term leading the commission, in the looming reshuffle of EU top jobs that follows the European elections.
At a debate in Maastricht on Monday with rivals from across the political spectrum, von der Leyen went on the attack against the far-right Identity and Democracy group in the European parliament, which unites France’s National Rally, the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) and the Danish People’s party.
The ID group is expected to make significant gains in the pan-European vote on 6-9 June and could even become the third largest force, threatening key EU policies such as support for Ukraine, climate action and enlargement.
While eight candidates taking part in the debate have declared an interest in leading the European Commission, von der Leyen is the only one with a serious shot at the job.
In an attempt to wrest control over that appointment, the European parliament favours the so-called spitzenkandidaten system, where Europe’s political parties present their choices to lead the EU executive.
In 2019 at the behest of France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, EU leaders side-stepped the spitzenkandidaten process, passing over the EPP’s victorious lead candidate Manfred Weber, in favour of von der Leyen, who had not taken part in any of the pre-election debates or even declared herself interested in the job.
The original article contains 741 words, the summary contains 219 words. Saved 70%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Von der Leyen is seeking a second five-year term leading the commission, in the looming reshuffle of EU top jobs that follows the European elections.
At a debate in Maastricht on Monday with rivals from across the political spectrum, von der Leyen went on the attack against the far-right Identity and Democracy group in the European parliament, which unites France’s National Rally, the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) and the Danish People’s party.
The ID group is expected to make significant gains in the pan-European vote on 6-9 June and could even become the third largest force, threatening key EU policies such as support for Ukraine, climate action and enlargement.
While eight candidates taking part in the debate have declared an interest in leading the European Commission, von der Leyen is the only one with a serious shot at the job.
In an attempt to wrest control over that appointment, the European parliament favours the so-called spitzenkandidaten system, where Europe’s political parties present their choices to lead the EU executive.
In 2019 at the behest of France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, EU leaders side-stepped the spitzenkandidaten process, passing over the EPP’s victorious lead candidate Manfred Weber, in favour of von der Leyen, who had not taken part in any of the pre-election debates or even declared herself interested in the job.
The original article contains 741 words, the summary contains 219 words. Saved 70%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!