If Ursula von der Leyen When she took over the office of President of the EU Commission in 2019, many were surprised. She was actually scheduled to be part of Angela Merkel’s cabinet and her nomination also caused a lot of discontent here in Germany. But Ursula von der Leyen first had to pave her political path before she could become President of the EU Commission.
Ursula von der Leyen: From local politician to the top of the EU
Ursula von der Leyen only joined the CDU in 1990 and was active at the local level in Lower Saxony until the end of the 1990s. In 2003 she entered the Lower Saxony state parliament and became Minister of Social Affairs under the then Prime Minister (and later Federal President) Christian Wulff.
In 2009, von der Leyen ran for the Bundestag for the first time and entered the Bundestag via the state list. She was part of Angela Merkel’s competence team early on, so that von der Leyen was able to take over the office of family minister in Merkel’s first cabinet, even though she was not yet a member of the Bundestag at the time.
In the later Merkel cabinets, von der Leyen took over the office of Labor Minister and was the first woman ever to take over the office of Defense Minister. She gave up the latter to run for the office of President of the EU Commission.
Introduction of parental allowance and consultant affair
Ursula von der Leyen has long been a controversial figure. Her liberal and family policy initiatives as family minister, such as parental allowance and the expansion of daycare places, caused unrest within her own party.
As defense minister, she significantly increased the defense budget. However, some expenditure was called into question when it was revealed that contracts had been awarded to management consultants. This became the so-called “consultant affair”. In addition, von der Leyen advocated the purchase of drones for the Bundeswehr and a rethinking of the Bundeswehr’s internal leadership.
Von der Leyen’s ambitions as EU Commission President
As President of the European Commission, she has made climate protection her priority. The “European Green Deal” describes the ambitious plan to make the EU climate neutral by 2050. With the so-called CO2 border adjustment, she also wants to halve greenhouse gas emissions in the EU by 2030.
From 2020, crisis management also began for the EU Commission President. She coordinated the procurement of vaccines but was heavily criticized for her hesitant stance. In view of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, she expressed solidarity with the country and held out the prospect of Ukraine joining the EU.
A second term in office at the EU in prospect?
Ursula von der Leyen is also running again for the office of EU Commission President in the European elections from June 6th to 9th. A second term in office is also uncertain, but not unlikely, due to the rise of right-wing parties in Europe.
Read more about the upcoming European elections in our ticker.