The European Commission Under President Ursula Von Der Leyen: Gender, Leadership, Policies, and Crises

The volume provides the first comprehensive account of the European Commission under its first female president, Ursula von der Leyen (2019-2024). Amid unprecedented crises, von der Leyen pressed forward with an exceptionally ambitious political agenda, simultaneously pushing European integration into new territory and demanding a new European vision for ＂A Union of Equality.＂ Applying a gender approach, this book systematically examines von der Leyen’s ascendance to and exercise of political leadership in the European Union, the Commission’s substantive agenda-setting and policy-making, its responses to the various European crises, and its impact on European governance. The volume provides a new conceptual framework, ＂critical actorness＂, capturing both continuities and changes in individual agency and structural processes at the European level from a gender perspective. It encompasses detailed single and comparative analyses, providing an in-depth examination of both von der Leyen and the Commission’s multifaceted policy-making, intra- and inter-institutional relations, and crisis management. The volume demonstrates that while von der Leyen and her Commission provided proactive leadership in face of imminent crises, their performance was less effective in addressing long-term issues, particularly gender equality, and LGBTIQ and minority rights. Integrating gender, leadership, structures, policies, and crises, the volume facilitates a deep understanding of the role and significance of the von der Leyen Commission in the evolution of European integration and the process of European governance.

Gabriele Abels, Professor of German and European Politics, Institute of Political Science, University of Tübingen, Johanna Kantola, Professor of European Societies and their Politics, Centre for European Studies, University of Helsinki, Emanuela Lombardo, Professor of Political Science, Complutense University of Madrid, Henriette Müller, Assistant Professor of Gender, Governance and Society, New York University Abu Dhabi

Gabriele Abels is Professor of German and European Politics and Jean Monnet Chair at the Institute of Political Science, University of Tübingen. Her areas of interest cover democracy in the EU system, the role of parliaments and regions, integration theories, and gender studies. Key publications include The Routledge Handbook of Gender and EU Politics (co-edited with Andrea Krizsan, Heather MacRae, and Anna van der Vleuten; Routledge, 2021), Gendering European Integration Theory: Engaging New Dialogues (co-edited with Heather MacRae; Barbara Budrich Publishers, 2016) and Gendering the European Union: New Approaches to Old Democratic Deficits (co-edited with Joyce M. Mushaben; Palgrave Macmillan, 2012).

Johanna Kantola is Professor of European Politics at the Centre for European Studies, University of Helsinki. She was the director of the ERC Consolidator Grant project on the European Parliament’s political groups and gender (EUGenDem, 2018-2023) and is a team leader in a Horizon Europe project on democracy and feminism (CCINDLE, 2022-2026). Her research has appeared in top journals including American Political Science Review, European Journal of Political Research, West European Politics, and Journal of Common Market Studies. She is the author and editor of 12 books and the series editor of Palgrave’s ’Gender and Politics’ book series.

Emanuela Lombardo is Associate Professor of Political Science at Complutense University of Madrid. Her lines of research are equality policies, Europeanization, feminism, and democracy. She directs the Gender and Politics research group GEYPO with Maria Bustelo and is PI of a WP in the Horizon Europe CCINDLE project on democracy and feminism. Her latest monograph is Gender and Political Analysis (with Johanna Kantola; Palgrave, 2017). Recent edited special issues include De-democratization and Opposition to Gender Equality Politics in Europe (Social Politics, 2021; with Johanna Kantola and Ruth Rubio) and Populism and Feminist Politics (International Political Science Review, 2020’ with Johanna Kantola).

Henriette Müller is Assistant Professor of Gender, Governance and Society at New York University Abu Dhabi. Her research encompasses the comparative study of gender and leadership both at the national and international levels and across different political systems and sociocultural contexts. She is the author of Political Leadership and the European Commission Presidency (OUP, 2020), and co-editor of Women and Leadership in the European Union (with Ingeborg Tömmel; OUP, 2022). Her work has appeared in journals including Hawwa: Journal of Women of the Middle East and the Islamic World, Journal of European Integration, Politics & Gender, Politics and Governance, and West European Politics.