Roberta Metsola is reelected as President of the European Parliament until 2027. (Photo: Reuters/VNA)

Members re-elected Roberta Metsola as President of the European Parliament until 2027, with 562 votes in the first round. The 720-member European Parliament also approved Ursula von der Leyen's reappointment as EC President, with 401 votes. 

A test for Ursula von der Leyen

On the first day, Roberta Metsola, a 45-year-old Maltese politician and member of the European People's Party (EPP), was re-elected EP President for the next 2.5 years. The result was predicted. Most analysts said she would not face any real obstacles in her re-election. Her only competition came from the European left-wing parties.

Unlike Metsola’s easy re-election, von der Leyen faced a lot of challenges. Before the first session of the new EP, representatives of many parties, notably the European Conservatives and Reformists, and especially the Frattelli d'Italia Party of the Italian Prime Minister and Ms. Giorgia Meloni, publicly opposed the reappointment of von der Leyen.

Some other parties in the EP, such as Renew and the Patriots, vaguely declared their support for von der Leyen but set many conditions and asked for concessions from von der Layen for European policy priorities for the next 5 years.

These challenges and the risks of the EP's secret ballot mechanism forced von der Leyen to do some intensive campaigning over the past 2 weeks. In the voting on Wednesday she received 401 votes for and 284 votes against, so she will serve a second term as the most powerful leader in the European Union.

Valerie Hayer, Chairwoman of the Renew party’s EP group, said: “We support Ursula von der Leyen because she has a very ambitious action program that meets the priorities in competitiveness, security, and national defense that we demand in return for our support for her.”

Many MEPs said the re-election of von der Leyen as EC President serves the EU’s strategic interests and stability.

“You don’t have to be in her Fan Club to understand the consequences of voting against her...The election is the direction of the EU that we want to take," Senator Dirk Gotink of the EPP said. 

Ursula von der Leyen is reelected as EC President. (Photo: XNA/ VNA)

New prioritized actions

Now Von der Leyen can continue her ambitious plans from the first tenure to introduce new initiatives for the Union. In a 31-page document setting out her vision before the election, she said her priority is to implement the EU’s defense projects, including an air defense shield. She said it’s time for the EU to build a true European defense union through large-scale defense projects. She revealed her plan to appoint a new commissioner in charge of defense, publish a White Paper on the Future of European Defense, and give high priority to energy transition and EU competitiveness.

“I’ll put forward a new clean industrial deal in the first 100 days of the next mandate. It will channel investment in infrastructure and industry, in particularly for energy intensive sector. I’ll propose a European competitiveness fund. It will be focused on common and cross-border European projects that will drive competitiveness and innovation, notable to support to clean industrial deal,” she said.

Von der Leyen set a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the EU 90% by 2040 and will keep the controversial commitment to phase out combustion engines by 2035.

Observers say that by winning more votes than expected and also more than in the previous term, von der Leyen has important political capital to carry out her plans. Her next challenge will be to establish a new European Commission that can deal with the political power shift in Europe seen in the recent Parliamentary elections.