She was voted in by a thin majority of 383 of 733 votes cast, a historically slim margin that underscores the lingering divisions in the bloc. The outgoing European Commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, who also faced resistance to his 2014 nomination, was elected by 422 votes out of the 729 cast. In her acceptance speech, Ms. von der Leyen said that building coalitions would be a key part of what she does as commission president. But ultimately, she said, “in a democracy, a majority is a majority.”European politics aside, Ms. von der Leyen has also faced scrutiny based on her track record as defense minister. A parliamentary committee is looking into how the contracts were awarded and whether the internal investigation started by Ms. von der Leyen was in line with requirements for transparency.

Source: New York Times July 16, 2019 17:40 UTC