The president of the European Commission is still the winner – but she is under increasing fire, making a second term uncertain Ursula von der Leyen.
Two months before European elections of June, Brussels is abuzz with European diplomats and officials warning that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is unsure of another five-year term at the helm of the EU’s executive body.
An EU official described it as the dominant theme of the debate.
As the European website reports Politico, according to a European official an important reason is “the arrogance of power”. He continues: “He mistakenly believed that he could get away with everything. So some minor mistakes are now being used against her.” Like other officials quoted in this article, the EU official spoke on condition of anonymity to speak freely about the powerful German politician inside the Brussels bubble.
At the heart of the matter, there are two primary forces that could torpedo her in the post-election horse bargain.
THE France – whose relations with Germany are tough – she’s still extremely ambivalent about her support, likely to extract concessions, though she could spy a late chance to reshape the top table. If he clears that potential hurdle of disagreement with Paris, he will also have to worry about whether he can secure confirmation from the new European Parliament, in which the far right is likely to be a bigger player than it is today. Even support from her own centre-right European People’s Party appears lukewarm.
The prospect of a reversal appears to be increasing after a series of slippages in recent weeks, EU officials and diplomats said. It is a major turnaround from the start of the year, when it appeared unshakable.
Pfizergate and Israel
“Von der Leyen’s periodic palinodes, from Pfizergate until her trip to Israeltake on new meaning as we get closer to the elections,” said Mr Alberto Alemano, professor of law at HEC business school in Paris. “They get a pattern.”
Still, 65-year-old von der Leyen is the woman to beat. Not only is she the current president, but the EPP leads tvn antip;alvn in polls, which gives them the right – as they see it – for von der Leyen to remain. It is also hard to see which other candidate has any chance of displacing her when EU leaders meet this summer to divvy up the bloc’s top jobs, such as the European Commission, Council and foreign policy chiefs.
However, as one EU diplomat pointed out: “He should not take it for granted.”
What happened in Bucharest?
Two other officials pointed to the party’s convention in March at Bucharest as a key turning point in von der Leyen’s understanding.
In early March, European conservatives met in the Romanian capital to formally endorse the former German defense minister as the face of their EU election campaign. But some, such as French conservative hardliner Michel Barnier, refused to support her.
The European commissioner Thierry Breton, who hails from the rival Liberals (but works under von der Leyen), said it was the tepid support von der Leyen received from her own EPP group. The Liberals are also part of the coalition supporting von der Leyen in the European Parliament.
While von der Leyen was the only name on the EPP ballot that day in Bucharest to be the lead candidate and received 400 votes to 89 – out of a total of 499 votes, perception had been formed.
Source: Politico
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