Ursula von der Leyen, the current president of the European Council, is expected to announce her bid for a second term in office on Monday during a meeting of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party in Berlin.
Until now, von der Leyen, 65, had only hinted at the possibility of running again for the top job, avoiding to clearly state her intentions despite mounting pressure.
To campaign for the role, von der Leyen must receive the backing of two other parties within her European People’s Party (EPP), a centre-right, pro-European political party in the EU Parliament which gathers a total of 83 parties from 44 countries.
She then needs to win a vote at the EPP’s Congress in Bucharest in March and wait for the result of the European Parliament election on 6-9 June.
At the moment, EPP leads the polls for the June elections.
To win, von der Leyen would need the support of a majority of members of the new European Parliament.
If re-elected, she will be in office for another five years.
