Teresa Ribera comes after VDL in the European Commission’s line of succession

The next person in the European Commission’s line of succession if President Ursula von der Leyen is incapacitated is Executive Vice President Teresa Ribera, the EU executive’s spokesperson said Monday.

The question of who would lead the Commission if von der Leyen has to step away from her duties arose after the president’s spokesperson last week announced she has “severe pneumonia” and had canceled her engagements in the first half of January.

While there has been “no need to designate” a stand-in for von der Leyen, “in the order of replacement, the next colleague and member of the college would be indeed Executive Vice President Ribera,” said Commission Chief Spokesperson Paula Pinho.