The Leadership of Ursula Von Der Leyen as President of the European Commission

Ursula von der Leyen is the first woman in the office of president of the European Commission. Her nomination was marked by a series of hurdles, as she was neither a spitzenkandidat of any party group in the European Parliament (EP), nor an explicit favourite of the European Council (EUCO). Yet as soon as she was nominated by EUCO, she presented an extremely ambitious and focused agenda and passed the EP election, though only with a tight majority. With a theoretical perspective distinguishing between the institutional setting, the situational context and the personal qualities of a leader, the paper offers a preliminary assessment of Von der Leyen’s leadership. Regarding positional leadership, it questions to what extent her earlier career path and the nomination and election process to the Commission presidency shape her incumbency. As for behavioural leadership, the paper analyses Von der Leyen’s agenda-setting, her activities toward implementing this agenda, as well as her achievements so far. Particularly, the paper highlights how Von der Leyen, in face of the COVID-19 crisis, strategically tackled the crisis, pushed her agenda and strengthened the position of the Commission.