EVP wants to elect von der Leyen as the top candidate

Ursula von der Leyen wants to become the EPP’s top candidate – and then head of the EU Commission again. To do this, she has to do some convincing at the party congress. Because of her successes in office, she has also alienated delegates.

Manufacturers of construction technology, cosmetics and veterinary products regularly present themselves at Romania’s largest exhibition center. Now Europe’s Christian Democrats have hung huge banners at Romexpo.

There are certainly nicer places in the city, but they’re not here for fun: The family of the European People’s Parties (EPP), which also includes the CDU and CSU, come together three months before the European elections to elect their top candidate. For Ursula von der Leyen, it is the next step on the way to a possible second term as EU Commission President. When it comes to her appearance on the big stage, she knows what her party friends expect from her.

Before today’s “coronation”, the congress decided on an election program in the evening that appears to be more conservative in its orientation than the previous work of Ursula von der Leyen’s EU Commission. These are now the guidelines with which she will go into the election campaign. In recent years, many people in their own ranks have had the impression that the German at the head of the EU Commission was acting too much like a Green party – especially in her climate protection policy. She proclaimed her “European Green Deal”, the extensive legislative package on the path to a climate-neutral EU, a lighthouse project.

The accusation: weakening Europe

“We followed Ursula von der Leyen,” said Manfred Weber, leader of the EPP group in the EU Parliament, at the start of the congress in Bucharest. In fact, Weber and his group supported large parts of the Green Deal. But recently there has also been clear resistance to details.

CDU leader Friedrich Merz said in an interview with ARD studio Brussels, he has been talking to von der Leyen about the priorities for a year and a half. When asked about the “Green Deal” he says: “Perhaps there is a small change in perspective towards the question: What is actually necessary to achieve the goal of climate neutrality?” His answer: “It doesn’t work without a strong economy.”

This can also be found in the election manifesto: For the Greens and the Social Democrats, the Green Deal is a “new ideology,” it says. The EPP sees this as a “hallmark of a more prosperous, innovative, competitive and sustainable Europe”. Climate protection and a competitive economy only as a double package. They want to take action against “overregulation”.

Of course, von der Leyen’s name is not mentioned. But the current Commission President had to listen to this accusation again and again. French MEP Francois-Xavier Bellamy openly spoke out against re-election before Congress: Von der Leyen had weakened Europe with the “Green Deal”. These are harsh words from within our own ranks that should not leave the party strategists completely unmoved. After all, von der Leyen only had a wafer-thin majority when she was elected to the European Parliament in 2019.

Whose vote should you rely on?

In the end, the Von der Leyen 2.0 project depends on her collecting enough votes in parliament. The Greens have already announced that they will pay close attention to the course the Commission President takes with the “Green Deal”. But what appeals to the Greens and Social Democrats can deter other potential supporters – and vice versa.

For future cooperation, party leader Weber promises a “clear firewall against all right-wing radicals on the continent.” Von der Leyen does not want to rule out collaboration with parts of Giorgia Meloni’s Italian ruling party. The Fratelli d’Italia, which is significantly further to the right than the EPP, will take a close look at the passages on migration in the election program.

There the Christian Democrats speak out in favor of the fundamental right to asylum. But: “The EU, together with its member states, must have the right to decide to whom and where it is granted.” It also says: “Anyone who applies for asylum in the EU could be transferred to a safe third country and undergo the asylum procedure there.” According to the EPP, this safe third country grants the applicant “protection on site”. The border protection agency Frontex is to be massively expanded and better equipped financially.

The election program consists of 23 pages. There were no dissenting votes in the final vote in the evening, even if dissenting voices had been heard beforehand. It is now up to Ursula von der Leyen to decide which points of the manifesto she wants to emphasize in her application speech – and which not.