CC BY 4.0 Etienne Ansotte, © European Union, 2021 Adapted
In 2018, the Fridays for Future movement, founded by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, mobilised millions of students across the globe to protest for stronger climate action. The protests contributed to increased support for Green parties, particularly in Germany, where the Green Party gained approximately 7% more votes than in previous years in the federal, state, and EU Parliament elections. This shift in the German public’s values towards environmental concerns is particularly significant, given Germany’s role as the EU’s largest population bloc. Moreover, the movement heightened public awareness of climate change all across Europe and emphasised its repercussions as political momentum for more climate change policies increased. In May 2019, the European Parliament elections took place: the Greens gained 22 seats, while the European People’s Party (EPP) lost 34 seats. By September 2019, climate activism reached unprecedented levels, with over 7.6 million people participating in protests across 185 countries, mainly from Europe. These figures highlighted the public’s growing concern about the environment.
After the parliamentary elections, Ursula von der Leyen was chosen as the President of the European Commission as a compromise candidate after Emmanuel Macron blocked Manfred Weber, the EPP’s Spitzenkandidat. The Spitzenkandidaten process is the democratic practice in which, before a European Parliament election, each major political party chooses a lead candidate (Spitzenkandidat) for Commission President. In 2019, the EPP had Weber as a lead candidate, while the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) had Frans Timmermans. Ursula von der Leyen was elected without the Spitzenkandidaten process being followed, leaving her perceived by many as lacking the democratic mandate the process was designed to confer.
The absence of a mandate from the Spitzenkandidaten process caused grievances amongst the parliamentarians and dimmed von der Leyen’s prospects to secure a majority amongst the coalition between the EPP and the S&D groups. As a consequence, she needed to particularly court the members of her coalition partner, the S&D, which strongly supported climate action. The EPP saw the Fridays for Future protests, the Greens winning seats in the Parliamentary election and the overall demand for more climate action as the reason for its lost seats. This prompted von der Leyen to place climate action as one of the main pillars of her political agenda and as a way to legitimise her presidency.
On 16 July 2019, Ursula von der Leyen gave a speech to the European Parliament to gain the parliamentarians’ support as a candidate for President of the European Commission. The speech introduced the European Green Deal and signalled her commitment to making Europe the first climate-neutral continent, which she also positioned as an economic opportunity. In an effort to appeal to the major European political parties, she presented it as a new growth strategy. The speech also positioned the European Union as a potential global leader in climate governance. This was the promise on which she sought office and her defining moment as a climate leader. That same day, she won the presidency with 383 votes out of 747. In order to be elected, she needed 374 votes, meaning she won by a margin of just 9 votes. The narrow margin underscored the need to deliver concrete action to build political legitimacy.
She fulfilled her commitment in December 2019 by launching the Green Deal as the flagship policy of her presidency. She framed it as what the people wanted and an opportunity for economic growth: “It is the people of Europe who have called us to take decisive action against climate change.”
IE x RAIA Summer Research Programme: Ursula von der Leyen Profile
This article is an excerpt from a report on Ursula von der Leyen produced as part of a RAIA research programme on climate leaders. For a full picture of von der Leyen’s climate leadership, including the sources, read the full report. This project was fully financed by IE University’s School of Politics, Economics and Global Affairs and School of Science and Technology.
Authors: Daria Holtea, Bianca Albu & Ariadna Alvarenga
Editor: Dario Hasenstab
Project Lead: Dario Hasenstab
