European parliamentary approved Germany’s Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday to become the first female European Commission president on a platform of a greener, fairer and rule-based Europe.
The German conservative, and outgoing minister of defense, got the votes from socialist and liberal lawmakers which, together with the endorsement by her fellow conservatives, gives her a stronger mandate to tackle issues such as climate change, trade and maintaining democracy in the European Union.
Von der Leyen will be in charge of trade negotiations, economic and climate policy for 500 million Europeans and antitrust rulings involving powerful tech giants.
She secured 383 votes to 327 against, said David Sassoli, speaker of the assembly. The threshold was 374.
"The trust you placed in me is confidence you placed in Europe. Your confidence in a united and strong Europe, from east to west, from south to north," she said. "It's a big responsibility and my work starts now," added von der Leyen, who will take up her new role on November 1.
Earlier in her campaign time, the German politician, has said she is open to giving more time to Britain to negotiate its exit from the bloc, vowing to would work "in a constructive way" with any new British prime minister.
Greens lawmakers, who voted against von der Leyen, questioned her ability to carry out her promises. Some of the plans would need backing from EU countries that typically are wary of ceding more powers to the EU executive.
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