URSULA von der Leyen has been a key figure at the heart of Brexit negotiations, having been in regular contact with Boris Johnson to thrash out a last-minute deal.
With the EU commissioner on everyone’s mind tonight, here’s all you need to know about the first woman to take on the presidency.
The Brussels-born politician served as Minister of Defence in Angela Merkel’s cabinet from 2013 – 2019. She was the first woman in German history to hold the office.
A loyal member of the Christian Democrat party, she is known as a conservative Europhile.
Von der Leyen, 62, was born on October 8, 1958, and moved to Germany with her family at the age of 13.
She went on to study economics at Göttingen and Münster universities, spending a semester at LSE in London.
Von der Leyen and medicine in Hanover before going into politics.
The veteran politician is a descendant of Baron Ludwig Knoop, a cotton merchant from Bremen.
She became the official leader of the EU commission in December last year.
Von der Leyen was nominated for the top job on July 2, 2019.
She became the first woman ever to take on that role, superseding Jean-Claude Juncker on December 1, 2019.
The choice came as a surprise to many after a number of the main front-runners were rejected.
She has been a staunch supporter of the German government’s position in the Brexit negotiations, including “no renegotiation” of the backstop.
She is a mother to seven children. David, 33, Sophie, 31, Donata, 28, twins Victoria and Johanna aged 26, Egmont, 22, and Gracia, 21.
Her husband is Heiko von der Leyen, a medicine professor and the CEO of a medical engineering company.
Together they have seven children, born between 1987 and 1999.
The family are Lutheran members of the Evangelical Church of Germany.
During Brexit negotiations, she admitted there were “significant differences” between her and Prime Minister Boris Johnson on “three critical issues: level playing field, governance and fisheries”.
After a deal was thrashed out between the two sides, she used her press conference to mock Britain – and said the only real sovereignty was achieved through working together rather than going it alone.
In November, she made it clear she would continue to ask for EU concessions with fishing. She said: “No one questions the UK´s sovereignty on its own waters. But we ask for predictability and guarantees for our fishermen and women, who have been sailing in these waters for decades, if not centuries.”
However, Von der Leyen spoke positively about tonight’s dinner, she tweeted yesterday: “I look forward to welcoming UK prime minister Boris Johnson tomorrow evening. We will continue our discussion on the partnership agreement.”
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