EU leader expected to take office on Dec 1

The bloc's lawmakers will vote on Nov 27 on Ursula von der Leyen's commissioners

Ursula von der Leyen, the president-elect of the European Commission, and her college of commissioners are expected to take office on Dec 1 after a monthlong delay and the refusal of the United Kingdom government to nominate a commissioner.

The European Parliament will vote on Wednesday noon on the entire new college of 27 commissioners in a plenary session in Strasbourg, France, after a presentation by von der Leyen. She was elected in July as the first woman president-elect of the European Commission.

The 61-year-old former German defense minister, a mother of seven children, had been scheduled to replace Jean-Claude Juncker on Nov 1. The delay was due to the European Parliament's refusal to accept three commissioner nominees from France, Hungary and Romania. The three countries were forced to name new nominees.

The process to confirm the new candidates ended on Nov 18 when the final nominee, Hungary's Oliver Varhelyi, was approved as the new European commissioner for neighborhood and enlargement policy.

On Friday, EU ambassadors approved a document that would allow the commission to start work in December without a commissioner from the UK. EU development ministers' meeting on Monday in Brussels is expected to approve the document.

In a statement on Thursday, the European Parliament said the Nov 27 vote would bring to an end its long process of careful examination of the proposed team of commissioners. "Its objective was to ensure that the EU's executive body has the democratic legitimacy to act in the interest of Europeans," the statement said.

"Over the next five years, Europe has many issues to face - from providing long-term solution on migration and asylum to leading the world in the fight against climate change. We need a European Commission ready to act on the issues that matter to Europeans," said European Parliament President David Sassoli.

Eric Mamer, a spokesman for von der Leyen, said that the president-elect was taking nothing for granted ahead of the last procedural steps and the final vote.

The EU had accused the UK of violating EU law in failing to nominate a commissioner and launched an infringement procedure a week ago. But the UK government did not responded by the Nov 22 deadline.

UK had earlier agreed to send a commissioner as part of the deal with the EU27 that extended Brexit deadline from Oct 31 to Jan 31. It then cited legal guidance that no international appointments should be made during a general election campaign. The UK will hold its national election on Dec 12.

The EU wants to make sure that its new commission will be legitimate, although it won't be able to observe the rule that each member state should have a commissioner.

Britain divorce from the EU has now been delayed three times from the original date in March this year. There is concern that any further delay would risk making any new EU policies susceptible to legal challenge in the future.

If Wednesday's vote is passed, von der Leyen's team will take office on Dec 1 to manage the next steps of the Brexit process. Her promise that the process would take 100 days might need to be adjusted due to the upcoming long Christmas and New Year holiday.

In her policy speeches, von der Leyen vowed to focus on an ambitious climate agenda to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. She also pledged to work closely with the Parliament to strengthen democracy and a fair market economy in Europe.

On her idea of Europe's path amid global challenges, she said, "We need to do it the European way."

Politico contributed to the story.

chenweihua@chinadaily.com.cn