On Monday, heads of state and government of the 27 EU member states still had not agreed upon who should lead key EU institutions following last week's European parliamentary elections. That said, it does look likely that the President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen will secure a second five-year term of office. Her center-right party group, the European People's Party (EPP), continues to hold most seats in the newly constituted European Parliament.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz left little doubt the 27 EU member states would nominate von der Leyen for this powerful position, following which he believed she would surely find support from the three main political groups leading the European Parliament — the Christian Democrats, the Social Democrats and the liberal Renew Europe group.
"I believe it will be possible to quickly reach a reasonable solution, thanks to the fact that the political platform that has supported the president so far once again holds a majority in parliament," Scholz said in Brussels.
The three party groups in the political center command a total of 406 seats in the European Parliament, meaning they have more than the 361 seats required for an absolute majority. In terms of numbers, von der Leyen does not require support from Europe's growing right-wing populist and far-right camp. Ahead of the European parliamentary elections, von der Leyen had not ruled out working with right-wing nationalist MEPs, provided they held a pro-Ukrainian and pro-European stance.
Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and renewed candidate von der Leyen........