For those who still had doubts, Ursula von der Leyen has just shown that she is a powerful woman who knows how to skillfully play with the balance of power. Re-elected by the Twenty-Seven following the European elections of 9 June, which confirmed the victory of her political family, the Christian Democrats of the European People’s Party (EPP), the President of the Commission now intends to consolidate her authority.
The new team that will surround him in his second term starting on 1Ahem December at the latest and which was submitted on Tuesday, September 17, confirms this. “We have the impression of witnessing the beginning of the reign of Ursula Jupiter”says Public Square MEP Raphaël Glucksmann. It must be said that the context is favourable for her, if not for a European Union (EU) in full economic decline and facing two wars on its borders.
Between a France weakened by the political difficulties of Emmanuel Macron and a Germany entangled in the dysfunctions of the coalition led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Ursula von der Leyen has more room. Especially since she should not seek a new mandate in 2029 and therefore no longer needs to enlist the support of Paris, Berlin, Rome and others.
Surrounded by “yes men”
If the European Parliament validates the composition of the next college, there should be very few heavyweights who can overshadow Ursula von der Leyen. She will be surrounded mainly by “yes men”, sums up political scientist Alberto Alemanno, while the figures from his first term, the Dutchman Frans Timmermans and the Danish Margrethe Vestager, have abandoned the community ship.
Frenchman Thierry Breton should certainly have continued, but the former German minister, with whom he has execrable relations, made Emmanuel Macron bend: if France wants a major portfolio, he essentially told him, it will be without the former Atos boss. The Elysée sacrificed Thierry Breton in favour of Macron loyalist Stéphane Séjourné, the resigning foreign minister who, as Ursula von der Leyen confirmed on Tuesday, will be one of her six executive vice-presidents, responsible for “Prosperity and industrial strategy”.
She will be in charge of the internal market and will oversee four commissioners responsible for trade (Slovakian Maroš Šefčovič), research (Bulgarian Ekaterina Zaharieva), economic affairs (Latvian Valdis Dombrovkis) and financial services (Portuguese Maria Luís Albuquerque). But the past has shown that in Brussels, the title is no guarantee of influence.
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