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Bloomberg
Ursula von der Leyen’s two-week dash to secure the most powerful policy-making job in the European Union may end with a photo finish.
Unexpectedly tapped to head the European Commission after weeks of grueling negotiations by national leaders, the German defense minister
and ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel is chasing support among left-leaning factions to put her over the top in a secret ballot in the EU Parliament.
At least half of the 153 Socialist members will probably support von der Leyen, which would help her surpass the needed majority of 376 votes, according to officials from the faction who asked not to be identified. Von der Leyen’s aides expect her to receive about 400 votes, according to a person.
“If you vote her down, what’s the alternative?†said Janis Emmanouilidis, director of studies at the European Policy Centre in Brussels.
Von der Leyen’s candidacy has ruffled feathers in the parliament because she was not one of the official contenders who campaigned in May’s EU elections and because Socialists in the assembly felt they got a raw deal from the back-room dealing that saw her nominated.
If her appointment were to be shot down it would mean an unprecedented standoff between lawmakers and heads of government and plunge the bloc into an administrative crisis.