Tusk asks European Parliament to approve von der Leyen as next head of Commission

European Council President Donald Tusk has asked the EU Parliament to approve Germany’s Ursula von der Leyen as the next head of the Commission.

“For the first time, we achieved perfect gender balance in the top positions. Europe is not only talking about women, it is choosing women,” Tusk told the assembly on Thursday, which will vote on von der Leyen in mid-July.

“I hope it will inspire the European Parliament in its decisions,” Reuters quoted him as saying after the bloc’s 28 national leaders assigned the union’s top jobs for the five years ahead.