Ursula von der Leyen

Ursula von der Leyen is a German Christian Democrat (CDU) politician who has led the European Commission since 1 December 2019 and was re-elected by the European Parliament for a second five-year term in July 2024. Born in Brussels in 1958 to a family deeply involved in European institutions, she trained as a physician before entering German federal politics under Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Before moving to Brussels, she served in successive Merkel cabinets as Federal Minister for Family Affairs (2005–2009), Labour and Social Affairs (2009–2013), and Defence (2013–2019) — the first woman to hold the German defence portfolio. Her tenure at the Bundeswehr was marked by debates over equipment readiness and procurement.

As Commission President, von der Leyen has overseen several defining policy agendas:

• The European Green Deal, launched in December 2019, with the climate-neutrality-by-2050 objective enshrined in the European Climate Law.
• The NextGenerationEU recovery instrument agreed in July 2020, which allowed the Commission to borrow on capital markets to fund post-pandemic recovery.
• Centralised EU vaccine procurement during the COVID-19 pandemic, which later drew scrutiny over text messages exchanged with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla (the "Pfizergate" transparency dispute).
• Coordinated sanctions packages against Russia following the February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and EU support for Kyiv's candidate status, granted in June 2022.
• The Global Gateway infrastructure initiative announced in 2021, framed as Europe's response to China's Belt and Road.

Her second term, beginning in 2024, has emphasised competitiveness (responding to the Draghi report), defence industrial policy, and migration. She was nominated as the European People's Party's Spitzenkandidat for the 2024 European Parliament elections, though the post is formally proposed by the European Council and confirmed by Parliament.