Ursula von der Leyen should get a second five-year term at the head of the European Commission despite the somewhat phoney drama around her confirmation vote in the European parliament on Thursday.
To be sure, the 65-year-old centre-right former German defence minister cannot be certain of winning the absolute majority of 361 votes required to retain her job. Several members of the informal pro-European parliamentary coalition of the conservative European People’s party (EPP), the centre-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D) and the liberal centrist Renew Europe (RE) campaigned against her or have said they will not vote for her.
