Following the vote, Timmermans submitted his resignation to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who thanked her colleague for his years of successful work as Commissioner for the European Green Deal.

    “I thank Frans Timmermans for his passionate and tireless work to make the European Green Deal a reality... Thanks to his excellent contribution and strong personal engagement, we have made great strides towards meeting the EU's objectives to become the first climate-neutral continent," President von der Leyen said in a statement.

    On Tuesday, 92% of the nearly 38,000 members of the Greens and Labour coalition, expressed their support for Timmermans. There were no opposing candidates, but members had a chance to express their opinion on Timmermans' leadership credentials.

   In total, 51.5% of all members cast a vote. It is not known how the support was divided between the Greens (GroenLinks) or Labour Party (PvdA) members, a spokesperson reported.

    Earlier, supporters were positive about cooperation between the two parties: almost 92% of GroenLinks members supported cooperation, while for the PvdA it was 88 per cent.

    Earlier, the list committee called Timmermans "the ideal candidate to convincingly promote the joint green and social ideology of the GroenLinks-PvdA."

    Timmermans was previously active in Dutch politics, including as foreign minister. On Tuesday night, Timmermans will address members of both parties.

    On November 22, the Dutch go to the polls to elect a new parliament.