EU elites just endorsed another five years of Von der Leyen... but the PEOPLE could derail their plan - analysis by Millie Cooke
Ursula Von der Leyen is one step closer to being re-elected as European Commission President - but it could all be derailed by MEPs in the European Parliament.
On Thursday, the incumbent EU chief clinched the nomination to serve a second term.
But next month, she must win over a majority of the European parliament’s 720 MEPs.
The vote, expected to take place in July is not necessarily guaranteed to deliver a win for Von der Leyen.
Ursula Von der Leyen is one step closer to being re-elected as European Commission President - but it could all be derailed by MEPs in the European Parliament
PA
She is walking a political tightrope in her attempt to win over as many MEPs are possible.
"I will work with the whole Parliament", Von der Leyen said, saying she will attempt to reach out to MEPs outside her three-party centrist coalition - which would only give her a small majority.
And her recently fractured relationship with Giorgia Meloni could make securing a majority even harder.
In a sign of the tensions between the duo, Meloni abstained from voting on Von der Leyen's nomination.
Von der Leyen has publicly cosied up to Italy's leader Giorgia Meloni, with the European Commission chief having spent a significant amount of time in Italy in recent months.
The duo looked at an entry point for illegal migrants to Italy side-by-side, as well as offering their condolences to flood-ridden communities in the European nation. When Meloni presented her expanded political strategy on the African continent in Rome, Von der Leyen joined her.
The EU Commission chief's publically close ties with Meloni were seen to be symbolic of her increasing appeal to the right-wing - something Von der Leyen tried to take command over in the leadup to the EU elections.
But there's now concern in the Von der Leyen camp that this implicit endorsement of Meloni's brand of politics has backfired.
Meloni's hard right ECR grouping - which has faced scepticism from even those within Von der Leyen's centre-right coalition - gained seats at the election, making it now the third largest power in the European Parliament.
In the wake of her party's success, Meloni appears to have slammed the breaks on her relationship with Von der Leyen - in a very public way.
Giving a speech ahead of her trip to Brussels for today's European Council, Meloni blasted the EU dubbing it an "invasive bureaucratic giant". But more worryingly for Von der Leyen, she took a swipe at the system of deciding top jobs in the EU, saying its "surreal" they have been decided without taking the EU election result into account.
After Von der Leyen secured the nomination, Meloni said the process was "wrong in method and substance".
To make matters worse, the right-wing EU politician has 24 MEPs in the European Parliament. If they follow Meloni's position and abstain - or go one step further and vote against Von der Leyen - it could throw a significant spanner in the works for the EU Commission President.