Ursula von der Leyen has been Commission President since 2019 and was the EPP’s lead candidate in the 6 - 9 June 2024 European elections. On 18 July 2024, she was re-elected by the European Parliament to initiate a second term as Commission President. 

Ahead of the vote in the European Parliament, Ursula von der Leyen presented her political priorities for the next five years during a debate with MEPs. In her statement, she inter alia mentioned the need to:

• Respond to security threats, referring to organised criminal networks earning enormous amounts of money, inter alia from trafficking in human beings. She proposed to double Europol's staff and to strengthen its mandate for the agency to become a truly operational police agency. 
   
• Secure the EU's external borders, especially the Eastern Border. In this regard and in order to strengthen Frontex, she proposed to triple the number of European border and coastguards to 30.000.
   
• Respond to migration challenges, inter alia by implementing the Migration and Asylum Pact. She also stressed the importance of a common approach on returns and of comprehensive partnerships, in particular across the Southern neighbourhood. She announced the appointment of a Commissioner for the Mediterranean region, and a new Agenda for the Mediterranean.

For further details, please read the Statement at the European Parliament Plenary by President Ursula von der Leyen.