By Sammie Jones-
EU leaders have presented a special woman as their collective nomination for the EU’s top jobs, this being the first time proposed as European Commission chief. German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyden( pictured) is continuing to make history in her country, as she prepares to take over the European Union presidency. Her nomination comes after strenuous negotiations took place on Tuesday .
She is the daughter of Ernst Abrecht, a native French and German speaker who became prime minister of Hamcover. Four other nominations, the fifth nomination for president of the EU Parliament was agreed on Wednesday to be former Italian journalist, David Massori.
The recommendations, however, have yet to be ratified by the EU parliament.German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen lept ahead all other male contenders for the replacement position of Jean-Claude Juncker. The post is a big career lift for her, and presents her with wide opportunities. De Leyen is making major inroads in history, and was the first German female politician to serve as Minister of Defence since , a position she has held since 2013.
A member of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she was born and raised in Brussels, where her father Ernst Albrecht was one of the first European civil servants from 1958, and is a native French and German speaker. IMF chief Christine Lagarde has been nominated as the first woman to head the European Central Bank (ECB). EU leaders had to nominate five people for the top jobs. Juncker was one of the strong voices against Brexit after the 2016 referendum. Von Der Leyen will be expected to play a key role in talks surrounding how Brexit will be implemented given the challenges the process has faced so far.
Belgian liberal Prime Minister Charles Michel is nominated to replace European Council President Donald Tusk while Spain’s Josep Borrell is proposed as foreign policy chief. Sitting EU president Donald Tusk said:
“We have agreed the whole package before the first session of the European Parliament,” said Mr Tusk. Tusk said Germany had abstained on Mrs Von der Leyen’s nomination over coalition issues but pointed out that Chancellor Angela Merkel herself had backed her.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the nominations were “the fruit of a deep Franco-German entente”. “Von der Leyen is a very good candidate and a very good choice to head the European Commission,” he told reporters, adding that Ms Lagarde’s “capacities and competences… totally qualified her” for the ECB