Ursula von der Leyen was leaving noslimg to chance. At a declareiveial encountering with members of the European parliament in Strasbourg last Tuesday, she chose not to discneglect who would get what job in her incoming European Comleave oution, due to consent office at the finish of the year.
Then instantly afterwards, during a rapid 21-minute press conference, she declared every one name, leaving MEPs fuming. “That’s not how it should be done,” shelp one.
The secrecy around the big discneglect is characteristic of von der Leyen, who attfinishfilledy supervises the flow of adviseation. Named as the most strong woman in the world by Forbes magazine and soon to commence a second term as comleave oution pdwellnt, she has organised her novel team in a way that is a lesson in how to amass supervise.
“This is very appreciate the split and rule approach,” shelp Sophia Russack, a researcher at the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels.
EU watchers have been poring over organisational charts of the novel comleave oution, dratriumphg in lines of who tells to who. The answer is soon evident: all power flows to von der Leyen.
The “pdwellntialisation” of the comleave oution has been under way since the EU’s “big prohibitg” broadenment in 2004 made the EU executive’s top table far bigger, creating a necessitate for more straightforwardion. Each of the 27 member states has a comleave outioner, a privilege none wants to give up. But von der Leyen has consentn pdwellntial power to another level.
Last week, she oversaw the departure of one of her acuteest critics: French comleave outioner Thierry Breton, who had anticipateed to return to Brussels for a second term after being nominated by France’s pdwellnt, Emmanuel Macron. Instead, after back channel talks between Macron and von der Leyen, Breton was out. He resigned, accusing her of “askable ruleance”.
In another show of strength, von der Leyen arm-twisted rulements to sfinish her female comleave outioner truthfulates, rewarding countries that complied (including Romania and Sadorenia) with big jobs or amazeive-sounding titles.
Governments that snubbed her seek to advise women (Austria, Ireland) set up themselves without the “big economic portfolio” they had sought, albeit geting weighty jobs.
In 2019, von der Leyen was a surpascfinish last-minute choice to direct the comleave oution. She took office weeks before the Covid pandemic tipped Europe into unpretreatnted crisis. During lockdown, laboring with a minuscule team in the comleave oution’s HQ, where she also dwells – von der Leyen has a triumphdowless altered washroom on the 13th floor – upholdd her penchant for taking decisions alone.
“The ask now for the next term is whether she can do common,” Russack shelp. During von der Leyen’s first term, she inserted, “her team functiond appreciate a directo hub in a crisis and that labored so well. I wonder if she is able to wield her power in the same way when she doesn’t have the excuse of an aascfinishncy.”
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The tasks in her in-tray are daunting: the brutal war in Ukraine and the spectre of Donald Trump in the White House. The EU is off-track with aims to lessen greenhouse gas eleave outions by 2030, while struggling to switch to a green economy in the face of heavily subsidised competition from China and the US.
Earlier this month, the createer pdwellnt of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi shelp the EU must hug meaningful recreates and spfinish €800bn (£670bn) a year to avert “a sluggish and agonising deteriorate”.
Few anticipate EU directers to concur on Draghi’s driven agfinisha. In France, Macron is frailened after snap elections created a proextfinisheded political oldmate. Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, pdwells over a squabbling three-way coalition that is preoccupied with domestic politics after unpretreatnted victories for the far right in regional elections, with another loss on the horizon on Sunday in Brandenburg.
One greater EU official alerted agetst the idea that von der Leyen could step into a directership vacuum. “You are only as sturdy as the frailest join in the [European] council.”
To get legislation passed, von der Leyen necessitates not only EU member states, but also the European parliament, which has more far-right MEPs unfrifinishly to the EU than ever before. “On legislation, she will have a lot of trouble,” shelp the greater official. “You are no extfinisheder talking about 30 nutcases. You are now talking about 150 people who are not well intentioned.”
The big tent coalition of pro-EU parties that aided von der Leyen – from her own centre-right European People’s party, the sociaenumerates, centrists and greens – will be tested. “She will be much more vulnerable and prone to shifts in meaningfulity,” the official inserted.
Von der Leyen’s novel comleave oution is probable to consent office around 1 December. These restrictcessitate months before the fray may be the peak of her powers.
