
Ursula von der Leyen was never the name on everyone’s lips: The 60-year-old defence minister, who was relatively unknown outside of Germany until two weeks ago, was narrowly approved by MEPs on Tuesday.
She didn’t stand in the elections and her name was never really mentioned as a candidate – but that didn’t stop MEPs approving her. They had tried to inject some democracy into the selection process, but backed down after leaders threatened a fight.
In the end the vote was closer than many expected: despite winning support from most of the mainstream political groups in the parliament, she scraped through by just nine votes. Such is the effect of a secret ballot.
Getting the job is something of a homecoming for the Christian democratic politician, who was actually raised in Brussels as a native French and German speaker. Her father, Ernst Albrecht, was a top EU civil servant in the Sixties.
A compromise candidate, she was suggested by EU leaders after days of talks – apparently by the Visegrad group of central and eastern European countries.
Since her nomination she had done everything she can to shake the vote of confidence of far-right Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban – which many worried would count against her with other more liberal-minded Europeans. She has talked up beefing up rule of law provisions, and emphasised the social liberal and environmental side of her politics.
Von der Leyen is no stranger to scandal: she’s currently undergoing a parliamentary inquiry over claims of nepotism and incompetence at the Ministry of Defence. She’s also been accused of plagiarising some of her doctoral thesis, and making errors in it. It’ll be worth keeping an eye on the Bundestag to see whether anything come out of the parliamentary inquiry.
On Brexit – which is fairly low down the agenda in Brussels at the moment – Von der Leyen will be more of the same (as any realistic pick for the top job would be). She’s said Brexit is a “loss for everyone” and said events since the referendum had the “burst bubble of hollow promises” woven by Vote Leave. She’s said she’s open an an extension, but the decisions won’t be hers and she won’t be in office until November anyway, when it’s been decided.
Von der Leyen is, above all, a close ally of Angela Merkel – a moderate who is the only minister to have served in all her governments continuously since 2005. Before taking over the defence portfolio she was labour and social affairs minister, and before that, families minister. In those roles she supported quotas for women on company boards and beefed up parental leave for fathers. She stood by Merkel during the refugee crisis.
As defence minister, she promoted arms exports to Saudi Arabia, and on foreign policy is, by German standards at least, a hawk. At the EU, she is a strong federalist, and has called for “a united states of Europe – run along the lines of the federal states of Switzerland, Germany or the USA”. She says an EU army is also an aspiration.
1/50 18 July 2019
A learner from Northlen Primary school places on the chalkboard posters of former president Nelson Mandela as they mark his birthday in Durban on July 18, 2019. – July 18, marks 101 years since the birth of Mandela in 1918 and the centenary is an occasion to reflect on his life and legacy.
AFP/Getty
2/50 17 July 2019
Firefighters rush to the scene to put out a fire that spread to parked cars in Jerusalem, following an extreme heat wave that has caused many fires all over the country
AFP/Getty Images
3/50 16 July 2019
Rescuers work at the site of collapsed building in Dongri area of Mumbai, India
EPA
4/50 15 July 2019
A motorist drives past a destroyed house after a large earthquake that hit Surigao City, in the southern island of Mindanao, Philippines
AFP/Getty Images
5/50 14 July 2019
French Gendarmes remove fences next to a burning portable toilet during clashes with protesters on the Champs Elysees avenue after the traditional Bastille Day military parade in Paris, France
REUTERS
6/50 13 July 2019
A recortador jumps over a bull during a contest in a bullring at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, Spain
REUTERS
7/50 12 July 2019
Japan’s Megumu Yoshida and Yukiko Inui compete in the duet technical artistic swimming event during the 2019 World Championships at Yeomju Gymnasium in Gwangju
AFP/Getty
8/50 11 July 2019
Hot air balloons fly over the city of Igualada during an early flight as part of the European Balloon Festival in Igualada, Spain. The European Balloon Festival has become the most important hot air balloon event in Spain and one of the biggest in Europe
Getty
9/50 10 July 2019
USA’s players take part in their champions parade through New York after winning the Women’s World Cup at the weekend in France
Reuters
10/50 9 July 2019
The pack rides during the fourth stage of the Tour de France cycling race in Nancy, France
AP
11/50 8 July 2019
Temple Priest Siva Sri Arumugam Paskarakurukkal and Hindu devotees celebrate the Makorcavam temple festival at Germany’s largest Hindu temple in Hamm, Germany
EPA
12/50 7 July 2019
Megan Rapinoe lifts the Women’s World Cup following USA’s victory over The Netherlands at Stade de Lyon in the final held in France
Getty
13/50 6 July 2019
Manneken Pis is dressed in the overall leader’s yellow jersey, before the start of the Tour de France Stage 1
Reuters
14/50 5 July 2019
Sudanese protesters celebrate in the streets of Khartoum after ruling generals and protest leaders announced they have reached an agreement on the disputed issue of a new governing body
AFP/Getty Images
15/50 4 July 2019
Demonstrators burn a national flag in front of the White House during a Fourth of July protest
Reuters
16/50 3 July 2019
Smoke billows and flames propagate across the hillside near houses after the Stromboli volcano erupted in the north of Sicily. It killed a hiker and sent tourists fleeing into the sea
AFP/Getty
17/50 2 July 2019
An orangutan looks out of its cage in the controversial Pata Zoo in Thailand. Located at the top of a department store, the zoo has been controversial for keeping animals in tiny, concrete cages
EPA
18/50 1 July 2019
A protester breaks in to the Legislative Council building in Hong Kong during a protest on the 22nd anniversary of the territory’s handover to China from Britain
Reuters
19/50 30 June 2019
Riot police use rubber pellets to disperse LGBT rights activists as they try to gather for a pride parade, which was banned by the governorship, in central Istanbul, Turkey
Reuters
20/50 29 June 2019
A member of the LGBTQ community participates in the Metro Manila Pride parade in Marikina City, Philippines
Reuters
21/50 28 June 2019
Explosive charges blow up the remaining sections of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa, Italy after it partially collapsed last year killing 43 and injuring dozens
AFP/Getty
22/50 27 June 2019
A forest fire flare up in Ziltendorf near Frankfurt, Germany as mainland Europe suffers an intense heatwave
AFP/Getty
23/50 26 June 2019
One of the world’s most hazardous volcanoes, Mount Ulawun in Papua New Guinea, erupts spewing lava and ash high into the air
AFP/Getty
24/50 25 June 2019
A Russian Soyuz MS-11 space capsule carrying astronauts returning from the International Space Station lands in the steppes of south-east Kazakhstan
AP
25/50 24 June 2019
An aerial view shows a crater on a barley field near Ahlbach. Experts assume that an air bomb of the WWII probably exploded at a depth of several metres as a result of the triggering of the chemical detonator.
AFP/Getty
26/50 23 June 2019
People gather for a protest in Prague, Czech Republic. Protesters are on calling on Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis to step down over fraud allegations and subsidies paid to his former companies
AP
27/50 22 June 2019
Policemen push back anti-coal activists after they entered the open-cast mine Garzweiler, western Germany. The activists tried to reach and occupy the massive open-cast lignite mine in a protest to demand action against global warming, now one of the hottest issues on the European political agenda
AFP/Getty
28/50 21 June 2019
The silhouette of a girl performing yoga on the rocky crest of the Ancient Observatory Kokino on the occasion of fifth International Yoga Day, which is also the day of the summer solstice. The ancient astronomic observatory, located about 100 km northeast of Skopje, dates more than 4.000 years back in time. It is ranked by Nasa as the fourth ancient observatory in the world
AFP/Getty
29/50 20 June 2019
Indian residents get water from a community well in Chennai after reservoirs for the city ran dry. The drought is the worst in living memory for the bustling capital of Tamil Nadu state, India’s sixth largest city, that is getting less than two thirds of the 830 million litres of water it normally uses each day
AFP/Getty
30/50 19 June 2019
Several new policemen, of Catalan regional Mossos d’Esquadra Police, throw their caps after their graduation ceremony in Mollet del Valles, Barcelona. A total of 804 new officers attended the ceremony
EPA
31/50 18 June 2019
Rescuers carry out an injured man from an earthquake-damaged building in Yibin, in China’s southwest Sichuan province. The toll from the strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake rose to 12 dead and 134 injured as rescuers pulled bodies and survivors from wrecked buildings
AFP/Getty
32/50 17 June 2019
A protester wears a yellow raincoat to pay tribute to a man who died after falling from a scaffolding at the Pacific Place complex while protesting against the extradition bill. People have been demanding Hong Kong’s leaders to step down and withdraw the bill
Reuters
33/50 16 June 2019
A fan watches on at the ICC Cricket World Cup match between India and Pakistan at Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester
Action/Reuters
34/50 15 June 2019
Nearly 15,000 Dutch people gather in Valenciennes to support their women’s football team playing against Cameroon at the city’s Hainaut stadium
AFP/Getty
35/50 14 June 2019
A worker attaches a US flag to a mast before fixing it along the side of a road with other Israeli flags in the settlement of Qela Bruchim in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights. Israel’s cabinet will meet in the Golan Heights to honour US President Donald Trump and vote on naming a settlement there after him, the prime minister’s office announced
AFP/Getty
36/50 13 June 2019
French President Emmanuel Macron walks past the coffins of the three National Society of Sea Rescue (SNSM) ocean rescue volunteers, who died in a storm last week after their boat capsized, during a ceremony in their tribute at Fort-Saint Nicolas in Les Sables d’Olonne, France
AFP/Getty
37/50 12 June 2019
Police clash with protesters during a rally against a controversial extradition law proposal outside the government headquarters in Hong Kong. Violent clashes broke out as police tried to stop protesters storming the city’s parliament, while tens of thousands of people blocked key arteries in a show of strength against government plans to allow extraditions to China
AFP/Getty
38/50 11 June 2019
Botswana became the latest country to decriminalise homosexuality, celebrated by activists as a day of “pride, compassion and love.”
In the landmark ruling, the southern African nation’s High Court rejected sections of the penal code that criminalise same-sex relations and impose up to seven years in prison
AP
39/50 10 June 2019
A participant of the Koetztinger Whitsun Ride stands with his horse on a street near Bad Koetzingen, Germany. The procession of around 900 riders is one of the oldest Bavarian events
AP
40/50 9 June 2019
Police officers use pepper spray against protesters in Hong Kong. People took to the streets on Sunday to protest a proposed amendment to the extradition law that protesters fear would allow Hong Kong citizens to be unfairly extradited to China
AP
41/50 8 June 2019
A participant dances while holding a large rainbow flag during the Athens Gay Pride. Thousands marched in the 15th annual Athens Pride parade that was dedicated to the memory of a LGBTI activist who died earlier this year after a violent attack. Greek capital’s Syntagma square, the venue of violent anti-austerity protests during the peak of the financial crisis, was full of rainbow flags as well as body painting kiosks for the more than 7,000 participants
AFP/Getty
42/50 7 June 2019
A man walks past a billboard showing members of the French women’s World Cup football team on the side of a building on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris. The 2019 tournament starts this evening with the hosts playing South Korea
Reuters
43/50 6 June 2019
Canadian’s Army officer stands during the international ceremony on Juno Beach in Courseulles-sur-Mer, Normandy, northwestern France, as part of D-Day commemorations marking the 75th anniversary of the World War II Allied landings in Normandy
AFP/Getty
44/50 5 June 2019
Queen Elizabeth II and US President Donald Trump at an event to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day, in Portsmouth
Reuters
45/50 4 June 2019
Muslim worshippers gather to perform Eid al-Fitr prayers at the Martyrs Square of the capital Tripoli. Muslims worldwide celebrate Eid al-Fitr marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan
AFP/Getty
46/50 3 June 2019
President Donald Trump reviews an honor guard during a ceremonial welcome in the garden of Buckingham Palace in London
AP
47/50 2 June 2019
A cruise ship crashed into a dock and a tourist river boat on one of Venice’s busiest canals. Four people were injured in the smash, Venice port authorities reported. It happened on the Giudecca Canal – a major thoroughfare that leads to Saint Mark’s Square – on Sunday morning at 8.30am
AFP/Getty
48/50 1 June 2019
Supporters arrive at Wanda Metropolitano stadium for the Champions League final between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool in Madrid
EPA
49/50 31 May 2019
A Palestinian girl cool off by water to beat the scorching heat, as others pray outside the Dome of the Rock at the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem during the last Friday prayers of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan,31 May 2019. Israeli police Friday morning shot and killed a Palestinian young man following an alleged stabbing attack in Jerusalem’s Old City. Muslims around the world celebrate the holy month of Ramadan by praying during the night time and abstaining from eating, drinking, and sexual acts daily between sunrise and sunset. Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar and it is believed that the Koran’s first verse was revealed during its last 10 nights.
EPA
50/50 30 May 2019
Serena Williams in action during her second round match against Japan’s Kurumi Nara. The 23-time grand slam winner went through to the next round 6-3, 6-2
Reuters
1/50 18 July 2019
A learner from Northlen Primary school places on the chalkboard posters of former president Nelson Mandela as they mark his birthday in Durban on July 18, 2019. – July 18, marks 101 years since the birth of Mandela in 1918 and the centenary is an occasion to reflect on his life and legacy.
AFP/Getty
2/50 17 July 2019
Firefighters rush to the scene to put out a fire that spread to parked cars in Jerusalem, following an extreme heat wave that has caused many fires all over the country
AFP/Getty Images
3/50 16 July 2019
Rescuers work at the site of collapsed building in Dongri area of Mumbai, India
EPA
4/50 15 July 2019
A motorist drives past a destroyed house after a large earthquake that hit Surigao City, in the southern island of Mindanao, Philippines
AFP/Getty Images
5/50 14 July 2019
French Gendarmes remove fences next to a burning portable toilet during clashes with protesters on the Champs Elysees avenue after the traditional Bastille Day military parade in Paris, France
REUTERS
6/50 13 July 2019
A recortador jumps over a bull during a contest in a bullring at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, Spain
REUTERS
7/50 12 July 2019
Japan’s Megumu Yoshida and Yukiko Inui compete in the duet technical artistic swimming event during the 2019 World Championships at Yeomju Gymnasium in Gwangju
AFP/Getty
8/50 11 July 2019
Hot air balloons fly over the city of Igualada during an early flight as part of the European Balloon Festival in Igualada, Spain. The European Balloon Festival has become the most important hot air balloon event in Spain and one of the biggest in Europe
Getty
9/50 10 July 2019
USA’s players take part in their champions parade through New York after winning the Women’s World Cup at the weekend in France
Reuters
10/50 9 July 2019
The pack rides during the fourth stage of the Tour de France cycling race in Nancy, France
AP
11/50 8 July 2019
Temple Priest Siva Sri Arumugam Paskarakurukkal and Hindu devotees celebrate the Makorcavam temple festival at Germany’s largest Hindu temple in Hamm, Germany
EPA
12/50 7 July 2019
Megan Rapinoe lifts the Women’s World Cup following USA’s victory over The Netherlands at Stade de Lyon in the final held in France
Getty
13/50 6 July 2019
Manneken Pis is dressed in the overall leader’s yellow jersey, before the start of the Tour de France Stage 1
Reuters
14/50 5 July 2019
Sudanese protesters celebrate in the streets of Khartoum after ruling generals and protest leaders announced they have reached an agreement on the disputed issue of a new governing body
AFP/Getty Images
15/50 4 July 2019
Demonstrators burn a national flag in front of the White House during a Fourth of July protest
Reuters
16/50 3 July 2019
Smoke billows and flames propagate across the hillside near houses after the Stromboli volcano erupted in the north of Sicily. It killed a hiker and sent tourists fleeing into the sea
AFP/Getty
17/50 2 July 2019
An orangutan looks out of its cage in the controversial Pata Zoo in Thailand. Located at the top of a department store, the zoo has been controversial for keeping animals in tiny, concrete cages
EPA
18/50 1 July 2019
A protester breaks in to the Legislative Council building in Hong Kong during a protest on the 22nd anniversary of the territory’s handover to China from Britain
Reuters
19/50 30 June 2019
Riot police use rubber pellets to disperse LGBT rights activists as they try to gather for a pride parade, which was banned by the governorship, in central Istanbul, Turkey
Reuters
20/50 29 June 2019
A member of the LGBTQ community participates in the Metro Manila Pride parade in Marikina City, Philippines
Reuters
21/50 28 June 2019
Explosive charges blow up the remaining sections of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa, Italy after it partially collapsed last year killing 43 and injuring dozens
AFP/Getty
22/50 27 June 2019
A forest fire flare up in Ziltendorf near Frankfurt, Germany as mainland Europe suffers an intense heatwave
AFP/Getty
23/50 26 June 2019
One of the world’s most hazardous volcanoes, Mount Ulawun in Papua New Guinea, erupts spewing lava and ash high into the air
AFP/Getty
24/50 25 June 2019
A Russian Soyuz MS-11 space capsule carrying astronauts returning from the International Space Station lands in the steppes of south-east Kazakhstan
AP
25/50 24 June 2019
An aerial view shows a crater on a barley field near Ahlbach. Experts assume that an air bomb of the WWII probably exploded at a depth of several metres as a result of the triggering of the chemical detonator.
AFP/Getty
26/50 23 June 2019
People gather for a protest in Prague, Czech Republic. Protesters are on calling on Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis to step down over fraud allegations and subsidies paid to his former companies
AP
27/50 22 June 2019
Policemen push back anti-coal activists after they entered the open-cast mine Garzweiler, western Germany. The activists tried to reach and occupy the massive open-cast lignite mine in a protest to demand action against global warming, now one of the hottest issues on the European political agenda
AFP/Getty
28/50 21 June 2019
The silhouette of a girl performing yoga on the rocky crest of the Ancient Observatory Kokino on the occasion of fifth International Yoga Day, which is also the day of the summer solstice. The ancient astronomic observatory, located about 100 km northeast of Skopje, dates more than 4.000 years back in time. It is ranked by Nasa as the fourth ancient observatory in the world
AFP/Getty
29/50 20 June 2019
Indian residents get water from a community well in Chennai after reservoirs for the city ran dry. The drought is the worst in living memory for the bustling capital of Tamil Nadu state, India’s sixth largest city, that is getting less than two thirds of the 830 million litres of water it normally uses each day
AFP/Getty
30/50 19 June 2019
Several new policemen, of Catalan regional Mossos d’Esquadra Police, throw their caps after their graduation ceremony in Mollet del Valles, Barcelona. A total of 804 new officers attended the ceremony
EPA
31/50 18 June 2019
Rescuers carry out an injured man from an earthquake-damaged building in Yibin, in China’s southwest Sichuan province. The toll from the strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake rose to 12 dead and 134 injured as rescuers pulled bodies and survivors from wrecked buildings
AFP/Getty
32/50 17 June 2019
A protester wears a yellow raincoat to pay tribute to a man who died after falling from a scaffolding at the Pacific Place complex while protesting against the extradition bill. People have been demanding Hong Kong’s leaders to step down and withdraw the bill
Reuters
33/50 16 June 2019
A fan watches on at the ICC Cricket World Cup match between India and Pakistan at Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester
Action/Reuters
34/50 15 June 2019
Nearly 15,000 Dutch people gather in Valenciennes to support their women’s football team playing against Cameroon at the city’s Hainaut stadium
AFP/Getty
35/50 14 June 2019
A worker attaches a US flag to a mast before fixing it along the side of a road with other Israeli flags in the settlement of Qela Bruchim in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights. Israel’s cabinet will meet in the Golan Heights to honour US President Donald Trump and vote on naming a settlement there after him, the prime minister’s office announced
AFP/Getty
36/50 13 June 2019
French President Emmanuel Macron walks past the coffins of the three National Society of Sea Rescue (SNSM) ocean rescue volunteers, who died in a storm last week after their boat capsized, during a ceremony in their tribute at Fort-Saint Nicolas in Les Sables d’Olonne, France
AFP/Getty
37/50 12 June 2019
Police clash with protesters during a rally against a controversial extradition law proposal outside the government headquarters in Hong Kong. Violent clashes broke out as police tried to stop protesters storming the city’s parliament, while tens of thousands of people blocked key arteries in a show of strength against government plans to allow extraditions to China
AFP/Getty
38/50 11 June 2019
Botswana became the latest country to decriminalise homosexuality, celebrated by activists as a day of “pride, compassion and love.”
In the landmark ruling, the southern African nation’s High Court rejected sections of the penal code that criminalise same-sex relations and impose up to seven years in prison
AP
39/50 10 June 2019
A participant of the Koetztinger Whitsun Ride stands with his horse on a street near Bad Koetzingen, Germany. The procession of around 900 riders is one of the oldest Bavarian events
AP
40/50 9 June 2019
Police officers use pepper spray against protesters in Hong Kong. People took to the streets on Sunday to protest a proposed amendment to the extradition law that protesters fear would allow Hong Kong citizens to be unfairly extradited to China
AP
41/50 8 June 2019
A participant dances while holding a large rainbow flag during the Athens Gay Pride. Thousands marched in the 15th annual Athens Pride parade that was dedicated to the memory of a LGBTI activist who died earlier this year after a violent attack. Greek capital’s Syntagma square, the venue of violent anti-austerity protests during the peak of the financial crisis, was full of rainbow flags as well as body painting kiosks for the more than 7,000 participants
AFP/Getty
42/50 7 June 2019
A man walks past a billboard showing members of the French women’s World Cup football team on the side of a building on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris. The 2019 tournament starts this evening with the hosts playing South Korea
Reuters
43/50 6 June 2019
Canadian’s Army officer stands during the international ceremony on Juno Beach in Courseulles-sur-Mer, Normandy, northwestern France, as part of D-Day commemorations marking the 75th anniversary of the World War II Allied landings in Normandy
AFP/Getty
44/50 5 June 2019
Queen Elizabeth II and US President Donald Trump at an event to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day, in Portsmouth
Reuters
45/50 4 June 2019
Muslim worshippers gather to perform Eid al-Fitr prayers at the Martyrs Square of the capital Tripoli. Muslims worldwide celebrate Eid al-Fitr marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan
AFP/Getty
46/50 3 June 2019
President Donald Trump reviews an honor guard during a ceremonial welcome in the garden of Buckingham Palace in London
AP
47/50 2 June 2019
A cruise ship crashed into a dock and a tourist river boat on one of Venice’s busiest canals. Four people were injured in the smash, Venice port authorities reported. It happened on the Giudecca Canal – a major thoroughfare that leads to Saint Mark’s Square – on Sunday morning at 8.30am
AFP/Getty
48/50 1 June 2019
Supporters arrive at Wanda Metropolitano stadium for the Champions League final between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool in Madrid
EPA
49/50 31 May 2019
A Palestinian girl cool off by water to beat the scorching heat, as others pray outside the Dome of the Rock at the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem during the last Friday prayers of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan,31 May 2019. Israeli police Friday morning shot and killed a Palestinian young man following an alleged stabbing attack in Jerusalem’s Old City. Muslims around the world celebrate the holy month of Ramadan by praying during the night time and abstaining from eating, drinking, and sexual acts daily between sunrise and sunset. Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar and it is believed that the Koran’s first verse was revealed during its last 10 nights.
EPA
50/50 30 May 2019
Serena Williams in action during her second round match against Japan’s Kurumi Nara. The 23-time grand slam winner went through to the next round 6-3, 6-2
Reuters
Her policy platform, which was previously fairly opaque on account of her not being a candidate in the elections, has now been fleshed out. It looks fairly ambitious: abolishing the member state veto on foreign policy, EU-wide coordination of minimum wages, and a major investment programme to cut carbon emissions. But the EU is such that it’s hard to tell how much of this she will be able to deliver.
She is, of course, the first women to hold the post of European Commission president – and actually only the second German. Now, her job is to build her top team, which she says she wants to be half men and half women. Her first fight will be convincing member states – many of whom already have particular men in mind for the post – that that’s worth it.
Source link