Von Der Leyen makes final pitch ahead of decisive vote
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Ursula von der Leyen delivered her final pitch to members of the European Parliament on Tuesday, offering socialists and liberals a constellation of policy promises as she sought to win approval to become president of the European Commission.
POLITICO reports that the German nominee for the EU’s top job delivered an address that was carefully scripted to appeal to pro-EU parties beyond her own center-right political family, with particular emphasis on social democrats, who are divided over whether to back her.
Von der Leyen sought to ease the doubts of the center left with an array of policy morsels, including an EU-wide minimum wage framework, a European Unemployment Benefit Reinsurance Scheme, and a “youth guarantee” to reduce unemployment.
Whether von der Leyen would be able to implement many of her pledges is open to question. Some of the most significant would need support from the EU’s member governments. Members of her own conservative party said they hoped she would not be able to meet her pledges once she is confirmed as Commission president.
But the primary objective for von der Leyen on Tuesday was to secure the 374-vote absolute majority in Parliament required to confirm her nomination. And the outgoing German defense minister appeared to have decided to focus on gathering votes from social democrats, liberals and even a few Greens — despite the Green group as a whole deciding not to back her — rather than send signals that might appeal to nationalists and Euroskeptics.
Among the proposals that she would not be able to implement alone was a “New Pact on Migration and Asylum” that von der Leyen said would rewrite the EU’s asylum rules, known as the Dublin regulation, and end years of intractable disagreement among member countries.
“We need to address the legitimate concerns of many and look at how we can overcome our differences,” von der Leyen said. “I will propose a New Pact on Migration and Asylum, including the relaunch of the Dublin reform.”
