After a slightly inauspicious start, involving the rejection by the European Parliament of three candidate Commissioners and robust grilling by MEPs of many of the proposed team, the European Commission led by former German defence minister Ursula von der Leyen took office on 1 December 2019, a month later than initially intended. The 26 Commissioners (the UK elected not to nominate a member, given impending Brexit) will serve for a five-year term until 2024, with an ambitious agenda set against a challenging global economic and political outlook. Described by von der Leyen as a ‘geopolitical’ Commission, focused on ensuring that Europe plays a leading part in shaping a ‘better global order’, it is the first Commission led by a woman and, in another first, with 12 female Commissioners, almost achieves gender parity. As a further policy objective, von der Leyen is requiring all Commissioners to have a gender-balanced Cabinet and has stated that she is aiming for gender equality at all Commission management levels by the end of her mandate.