Ursula von der Leyen

Ursula von der Leyen is a German physician and politician who has served as the President of the European Commission since 2019. A senior member of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, she previously held several ministerial portfolios in the cabinets of Chancellor Angela Merkel, including as Federal Minister of Defence. Her tenure at the European Commission has been defined by major initiatives such as the European Green Deal and the management of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.

Early life and education

Born in Ixelles, a municipality of Brussels, she is the daughter of Ernst Albrecht, a prominent German politician and former Minister-President of Lower Saxony. She spent her early childhood in Belgium before her family moved to Hanover. She studied economics briefly at the University of Göttingen and the University of Münster before switching to medicine. She graduated from the Hannover Medical School in 1987 and later earned a Master of Public Health from the same institution. During her studies, she lived for several years in Stanford, California, where her husband, Heiko von der Leyen, was a fellow at Stanford University.

Political career

Her political career began in earnest in 1999 when she joined the Christian Democratic Union of Germany. She was elected to the Landtag of Lower Saxony in 2003, serving under Minister-President Christian Wulff. Following the 2005 German federal election, Chancellor Angela Merkel appointed her as the Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. In this role, she championed policies expanding childcare and promoting gender equality. After the 2009 German federal election, she became Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, overseeing labor market reforms. In 2013, she made history by becoming Germany's first female Federal Minister of Defence, a challenging post where she dealt with issues like modernizing the Bundeswehr and Germany's role in NATO missions.

European Commission presidency

Nominated by the European Council and elected by the European Parliament in July 2019, she assumed the presidency of the European Commission that December. Her political guidelines, "A Union that strives for more," centered on ambitious climate policy, digital transformation, and a geopolitical role for the European Union. Key legislative achievements include spearheading the European Green Deal, proposing the Fit for 55 package, and establishing the NextGenerationEU recovery fund in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. Her commission has also navigated significant challenges including the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, leading the EU's response with sanctions against Russia and support for Ukraine, and managing complex trade and technology relations with China and the United States.

Political positions and views

Politically, she is considered a centrist and a proponent of a strong, integrated European Union. She is a committed advocate for ambitious climate action, as embodied in the European Green Deal, and for a robust common European defence policy within the NATO framework. On economic matters, she supports a social market economy and has pushed for a digital single market. Her foreign policy outlook is characterized by a values-based approach, emphasizing support for Ukraine, transatlantic solidarity with the United States, and a strategy of "de-risking" rather than decoupling from China.

Personal life

She is married to the physician and professor Heiko von der Leyen, with whom she has seven children. The family resides primarily in Hanover. Fluent in German, English, and French, her personal background is deeply connected to the European project, having been born and partly raised in Brussels, the de facto capital of the European Union. Her father, Ernst Albrecht, was a senior European civil servant at the European Commission early in his career.

Category:1958 births Category:Living people Category:Presidents of the European Commission Category:German female government ministers Category:Christian Democratic Union of Germany politicians