(July 18): Ursula von der Leyen won a second five-year term as president of the European Union executive’s arm, marking a vote for stability at a time when several key European leaders are facing significant political challenges back home.

The European Parliament voted Thursday in a secret ballot to approve her renomination as European Commission president with 401 in favour, clearing the threshold of 360 that she needed.

The result cements von der Leyen — a staunch supporter of Ukraine and a central voice in the EU’s Green Deal — as one of Europe’s most influential political figures, particularly as leaders like France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Olaf Scholz battle internal challenges.

Over the next five years, the bloc will fight over its ambitious climate goals and how to implement them, even as it faces the threat of a tit-for-tat trade clash with China and the possible return of Donald Trump to the White House, which could undermine efforts by Ukraine’s allies to support its fight against Russia.

Before the vote, she pledged to maintain the EU’s climate ambitions, bolster competitiveness and strengthen defense industries. Von der Leyen said she would launch a “Clean Industrial Deal” in her first 100 days to boost European manufacturing while promising that the next commission would prepare the way for a 90% emissions reduction by 2040.

She also described a new approach to competition policy to ensure it reflects changes in global trends and prevents market concentration from raising prices or lowering the quality of goods or services.

“The race is on, and I want Europe to switch gears, and this starts with making business easier and faster,” she said in a speech to the parliament ahead of her confirmation vote.

Von der Leyen, 65, a former German defence minister, will find fresh challenges in her second term, after her first was dominated by the Covid-19 pandemic, the invasion of Ukraine and an energy crisis.

Far-right parties won more seats than ever in the current European Parliament, while some of the largest bloc’s economies are wracked by political instability at home, which will complicate passing EU legislation, particularly on climate issues.

Adding to that, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been emboldened to pursue diplomatic missions to Moscow, Beijing and Mar-a-Lago while his country holds the six-month rotating presidency of the EU.

Von der Leyen earned a rousing round of applause from lawmakers on Thursday when she blasted Orban’s trips as “nothing but an appeasement mission.”

Von der Leyen’s renomination by EU member states was part of a deal on top jobs among her European People’s Party, the Socialists and the Liberals. As part of the agreement, former Portuguese prime minister Antonio Costa will become European Council president and chair the EU summits, while former Estonian prime minister Kaja Kallas will take over as the bloc’s top diplomat. Roberta Metsola won reelection Tuesday as president of the parliament.

Although the three mainstream parties held enough votes to theoretically back von der Leyen’s bid on their own, she spent weeks courting other lawmakers, particularly the Greens, as well as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, to offset expected defections. The Greens formally backed von der Leyen’s nomination as the vote began.

One last-minute hiccup came Wednesday, when an EU court ruled that her commission provided insufficient access to contract details for Covid vaccines during the pandemic. Von der Leyen was already facing scrutiny over text messages she exchanged with the CEO of Pfizer Inc, Albert Bourla, when the bloc purchased billions of euros worth of vaccines.

The commission brushed off the ruling, and von der Leyen focused her pre-vote speech on the priorities the EU has been working on over the past months, including beefing up defense capabilities, accelerating both the green and digital transition and improving the bloc’s ability to compete with the US and China.

“Europe cannot determine elections across the world, but it can choose to invest in the security and defense of its own continent,” she told lawmakers. “Europe cannot stop change, but it can choose to embrace it by investing in a new age of prosperity and improving our quality of life.”

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