Von der Leyen invokes European ideals as she guns for top EU job
"Our most pressing challenge is keeping our planet healthy," the German defence minister said. "I want Europe to become the first climate-neutral continent in the world by 2050."
Von der Leyen is to face a nail-biting vote in Strasbourg at 6 pm (1600 GMT) on Tuesday: Many of the political factions in the 747-member European Parliament are still undecided on whether they will back her bid to become the president of the European Commission.
The commission proposes new EU legislation and ensures existing laws are implemented. Its competences also include conducting trade policy on behalf of the bloc and enforcing competition rules. The president oversees a staff of more than 30,000.
Von der Leyen needs 374 votes to take on the most powerful portfolio of her career. So far, only her own European People's Party, the largest in parliament with 182 seats, has confirmed its support.
The second-largest group, the Socialists with 153 seats, have yet to decide whether to vote for her.
Their leader Iratxe Garcia said von der Leyen was moving in the right direction with her climate change and gender equality proposals, but the group wanted to see more ambition and binding objectives.
The Spanish politician said the group did not want to delay important work, which could happen if the German defence minister's bid failed, but that it needed to see von der Leyen take a stronger stance on poverty, for example.
Philippe Lamberts, the leader of the 74-strong Greens, said Tuesday that his group will stick by its decision not to vote for her.
"Your language gets stronger even as your proposals remain relatively vague," Lamberts said, noting that her ambitions on issues including climate change fell short of the group's expectations.
However, von der Leyen's efforts seem to be winning over the liberals, whose faction leader Dacian Ciolos expressed his support for her bid and said he hoped she would be confirmed.
It was unclear whether he was speaking for the group's 108 lawmakers, but other high-profile liberals also came out in favour of von der Leyen, including current EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager.
The hard-left GUE/NGL faction reiterated on Tuesday that its 41 EU lawmakers would not back her in the vote.
The far-right Identity and Democracy group, which includes 11 EU lawmakers from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, has also vowed to oppose her.
In the two weeks since her surprise nomination by EU leaders, von der Leyen has hammered out her political priorities for the next five years, focused around climate issues, gender equality, efforts to boost European democracy and measures aimed at promoting social fairness and welfare.
She has pledged to propose a "new pact" on migration and to relaunch efforts to reform the EU's asylum system. "The EU needs humane borders," the European Commission president hopeful said.
The Brussels-born politician also said it is crucial to boost the EU's border forces and coastguard, arguing that European border force Frontex must comprise 10,000 officials "way earlier" than planned, and by 2024 at the latest.
Whatever the outcome of the likely close-run vote, von der Leyen raised the stakes for her own career on Monday by announcing that she would resign from her role as German defence minister - regardless of the outcome of her commission bid - "to serve Europe with all my strength."
If parliament fails to back von der Leyen, EU leaders must return to the drawing board and put forward a new candidate within a month.
