The qualifiers “bon”, ” solid”“positive”“outstanding” come back into the conversation when it comes to taking stock of the work that the German conservative born in… Brussels, 65 years ago, accomplished at the head of the Commission. This is why the heads of state and government should nominate her for a second term, during the European summit which will be held this Thursday and Friday in Brussels.
Conservatives, socialists and liberals agree on top European jobs, including the presidency of the Commission for Ursula von der Leyen
A welcomed reaction capacity
“She was able to brilliantly manage the major crises that the Union has gone through, undoubtedly the most serious since the Second World War”, notes a European diplomat with admiration. The von der Leyen Commission reacted quickly, in various areas, to the Covid-19 pandemic which paralyzed Europe (and the world) from the beginning of 2020. Thanks to the German Atlanticist’s close contacts with Washington, the European executive had already started working on sanctions packages against Russia, even before it attacked Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The European executive also worked diligently to draw up plans to reduce as much as possible the EU’s dependence on Russian hydrocarbons.
Ursula von der Leyen in the race to succeed her at the head of the Commission: significant support and a difficulty, source of uncertainty
“Heads of state and government do not want ‘Brussels’ to be a problem, but a solution”completes a insider of the European Parliament. Dr. von der Leyen has proven that she can provide it. Our first interlocutor further notes that even having gone into “crisis management” mode from the start of its mandate, the Commission has continued its very copious legislative agenda. She has proposed dozens of pieces of legislation within the framework of the Green Deal, texts governing digital giants and artificial intelligence, the pact on migration and asylum, etc.
The very solitary exercise of power
The credit goes of course to its president. Even if, echoed with great resonance, there is criticism of an extremely solitary and centralized exercise of power. Angela Merkel’s former minister arrived in Brussels with her close guard of compatriots, including her historic chief of staff, Bjorn Seibert, and her communications manager Jens-Alexander Flosdorff, to whom she added the Frenchwoman Stéphanie Riso. It is difficult for those who were not in the loop to be informed of the president’s plans. The college of commissioners found itself weakened. Some of its members have experienced the worst difficulties finding their place there, asphyxiated by the way the “omnipresident” acts. “In terms of collegiality, animation, exchanges of views, it was not that”admits a community source.
This centralization of powers has made people cringe all the more as Ursula von der Leyen tends to appropriate successes born from collective work. “She has the ability to take the visibility of the moment”, ironically slips the same source. Even if it meant overstepping her duties in October 2023, when she made comments in Israel on the conflict in the Middle East that deviated from the line set by the European Council. This propensity of the President of the Commission to seek the best place in the photo explains, in part, the bitter institutional and personal rivalry which pitted her for five years against the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, also in search of light. THE sofagate will have been only the tip of the iceberg of their antagonism.
Sofagate undermines the Union’s foreign policy: “It’s a problem of ego and personal ambitions”
The fight did not turn to the Belgian’s advantage. UvdL who, in addition to his native German, handles English with ease and is more than an illusion in French, manages his communication with jealous care. For five years, she avoided interviews other than group interviews, and very rarely found her way to the Berlaymont press room. On the other hand, it has increased the (effects of) announcements in videos posted on social networks.
Ursula von der Leyen lives in the office, almost literally: she has installed an apartment on the 13th floor of the Berlaymont, next to her office. Known to be a workaholic, this mother of a large family – seven children born between 1987 and 1999 – only returns to her home in Hanover occasionally. Is she, truly, the best person for the job? The European People’s Party (EPP), its political family, was only partially convinced of this when it had to choose its candidate for the presidency of the Commission. Ursula von der Leyen only received 400 of the 499 votes cast, out of a total of 793 potential voters. The leaders of the Twenty-Seven will answer the question in the affirmative – but perhaps not unanimously.
To be invested, UvdL will still have to collect a majority of at least 361 votes out of 720 in the European Parliament on July 18. Everything but a formality, due to the shrinking of the “von der Leyen majority” formed by the EPP, the socialists and democrats and the liberals and centrists of Renew during the previous legislature. The fact that his nomination is part of a package – which also includes the Portuguese socialist Costa for the presidency of the European Council and the Estonian liberal Kallas to lead European diplomacy – should work in his favor, as will his record.
The reaction capacity of “UvdL” is praised. Doubt persists, however, as to its ability to make the Commission the engine of the transformation of the Union required by the upheavals in the world order. Some voices deplore the fact that the possibility of appointing the former president of the European Central Bank and former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi has not been explored. The Twenty-seven prefer the von der Leyen option, a guarantee of effectiveness in the absence of audacity. “It corresponds to the level of ambition of heads of state and government for Europe”squeaks a European source.
