PREVIEW - EU Parliament To Vote On Von Der Leyen's Nomination To Lead EU Commission On Tuesday

BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th July, 2019) The German nominee for the European Commission presidency, Ursula von der Leyen, faces a make-or-break vote in the European Parliament on Tuesday, and it is unclear if she will receive support of 374 parliamentarians that she needs to take the post.

Von der Leyen, a long-time ally to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, said on Monday she would resign as German defense minister regardless of the outcome of the European Parliament's vote.

European leaders nominated Von der Leyen to head the European Union's executive arm after they failed to agree on any of the spitzenkandidat, or lead candidate, nominees, who were put forward by main political groups at the European Parliament.

On Tuesday, Von der Leyen will address the 747-member parliament in Strasbourg. EU lawmakers will then hold a debate and vote on her candidacy in a secret paper ballot.

It is far from clear whether the German defense minister will be able to secure the backing of roughly 374 lawmakers to make a majority.

Although Von der Leyen can rely on the backing from the European People's Party (EPP), the largest political group in parliament, it is unclear how much support she would get from the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) and Renew Europe liberals. Both groups issued lists of certain demands that they wanted Von der Leyen to pledge to support.

"Our Group will hold another debate ahead of the vote, where we will evaluate to what extent our demands can be fulfilled, and only then will we adopt a group position regarding the vote," S&D President Iratxe Garcia Perez said in a statement, published on July 12.

Renew Europe President Dacian Ciolos said in a call with Von der Leyen last week that his group needed "stronger commitments" from the German nominee in putting in place a European mechanism for the rule of law, among other requirements.

Meanwhile, the Greens and the European United Left-Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) said they would not back Von der Leyen's candidacy, making support from the center-left crucial.

"We have listened carefully to Ms von der Leyen and grilled her on our 10 key demands for the next Commission. Her responses were insufficient to satisfy the basic aspirations of EU citizens. They will help perpetuate the chronic problems the EU is facing," acting GUE/NGL President Martin Schirdewan said in a statement.

Critics of Von der Leyen's nomination have reportedly branded it as a "backroom" deal, pointing at the fact that the German defense minister did not campaign in the European Parliament elections.

Domestically, Von der Leyen has reportedly faced some criticism for her job as defense minister. The German media reported last week that Jens Geier, the European Parliament member from Germany's Social Democratic Party, had circulated a certain list of "quotes and events" intended to put von der Leyen in a bad light among the S&D lawmakers. In particular, the paper, titled "Why Ursula von der Leyen is an Inadequate and Inappropriate Candidate," reportedly mentioned a large amount of funding that failed to improve the state of the German military.

Jorg Meuthen, a member of the European Parliament and Federal spokesman for the Alternative for Germany (AfD), told Sputnik that his party would "tolerate" a German conservative candidate, if he or she would close the Mediterranean migration route and oppose "further development of unwanted EU authority."

"It is evident that Ursula von der Leyen is not such a person and will fail in her task, just as she failed as labor minister and above all as minister of defense," he said.

If EU lawmakers back Von der Leyen's candidacy on Tuesday, she will be the first female president of the European Commission. If not, European leaders will have to go back to the drawing board.