Ursula von der Leyen
President of the European Commission

According to the treaties, the President decides on the organisation of the Commission and allocates portfolios to individual Commissioners. The President also sets the Commission’s policy agenda. The President represents the Commission in European Council meetings, G7 and G20 summits, summits with non-EU countries and major debates in the European Parliament and the Council. President von der Leyen was appointed by national leaders and elected by the European Parliament after she presented her Political Guidelines.

The President represents the Commission in European Council meetings, G7 and G20 summits, summits with non-EU countries and major debates in the European Parliament and the Council. President von der Leyen was appointed by national leaders and elected by the European Parliament after she presented her Political Guidelines.

The president of the European Commission is the head of the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union. The President of the Commission leads a Cabinet of Commissioners, referred to as the College, collectively accountable to the European Parliament.

Biography

Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen is a German politician who has been serving as the president of the European Commission since 2019. She served in the German federal government between 2005 and 2019, holding successive positions in Angela Merkel’s cabinet, most recently as minister of defence

• President of the European Commission

  2019 – present

• Federal Minister of Defence, Germany

  2013-2019

• Federal Minister of Labor and Social Affairs

  2009-2013

• Member of the German Bundestag

  2009-2019

• Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, Germany

  2005-2009

• Minister for Social Affairs, Women, Family Affairs and Health in Lower Saxony, Germany

  2003-2005

• Member of the CDU in the State Assembly of Lower Saxony

  2003-2005

• Member of the CDU

  Since 1990

• Member of the academic staff, Department of Epidemiology, Social Medicine and Health System Research, Hanover Medical School (Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, MHH)

  1998-2002