The New von der Leyen Commission: an Orwellian interpretation of equal?

3 min read

George Orwell’s anti-utopian satire, Animal Farm might have been written with the Soviet Union in mind, it still has as much value and insight as it ever had.

Particularly relevant is the Seventh Commandment, “all animals are equal”, that, as the story progresses, slowly evolves into “all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”.

A not-so-subtle difference compared to the original principle as Orwell masterfully explores how the ruling class (Comrade Napoleon and his small entourage of pigs), under the guise of equality, manipulates and controls the populace through fear, misinformation, and division, effectively consolidating power.

“Equality” is a core value of democracy and has been so at least since the Enlightenment and the French Revolution (“Liberté, égalité, fraternité”).

It has been a recurring expression during the introduction of the New von der Leyen Commission, as well. Introducing the new commission, Ursula von der Leyen declared that all the commissioners were equal.

Maybe it was just a coincidence, but it seemed that it was meant more like the Orwellian version. Namely, all commissioners are equal, after all, save for the few who are somewhat more equal than the others (think the six vice presidents and three highlighted portfolios), and there is only one on the top of the group.

To encourage greater cooperation, Commisioners were given “an equal responsibility” to deliver on their priorities. Yet, the structure of the Commission seems to reflect more the time-tested old principle of “divide and conquer”.

To create “gender equality” at least within the “more equals” group, a less-known newcomer, Romanian Roxana Mînzatu will also be vice president.

Strong and very weak portfolios are set up under the secondary control of executive vice presidents. There are a few commissioners who report directly to von der Leyen, while there many, who don’t. Commissioners with scandalous pasts or sent by “pariah” governments seem to have been “punished” by making them report to two different vice presidents, a step that will very likely make it extremely difficult for them to orchestrate their works or might easily allow others to obstruct their portfolios or activities.

Such Commissioners are Ekaterina Zaharieva (BG) with her list of corruption scandals, Marta Kos (SL) who was allegedly in contact with the UDBA, the secret police of former Yugoslavia, Belgian Hadja Lahbib, who had some controversial visits and visa issues related Russian and Iranian citizens, and Olivér Várhelyi whose main fault is that he was delegated by Hungary.

Besides the six vice presidents, only three of the other commissioners will report directly to von der Leyen, the others need to approach one or two vice presidents with their problems and ideas. The three just little more equal animals commissioners are Piotr Serafin, Maroš Šefčovič and Valdis Dombrovskis.

Serafin, the ex-head of the cabinet of Donald Tusk ended up with “the stick”, from the old “stick and carrot” setup, the anti-fraud and budget portfolio. The highly respected veteran Maroš Šefčovič received the – not just long, but also heavy – trade and economic security and inter-institutional relations and transparency portfolio. Valdis Dombrovskis (who mainly continues his work from the earlier commission) will lead the economy and productivity, implementation and simplification portfolio.

The division of labor seems to reflect a different political thought, as well: a method dubbed as “Boston Politics”, described by J. Anthony Lukas in his masterpiece, Boston Politics: The Creativity of Power.

Lukas examined the practices of Boston’s long-reigning mayor, James Michael Curley, describing in great detail how he centralized power in Boston City Hall via a set of well-thought-out measures and power games. Curley’s public rhetoric often emphasized “unity and equality”, he used populist language to claim that he represented all Bostonians, while in practice, his actions divided groups, and centralized decision making to ensure lasting loyalty. Another method from his “toolkit” was the creation of overlapping responsibilities: assigning similar or overlapping tasks to different people within his administration, he created a scenario where subordinates had to compete for resources, influence, or recognition. Hence, dependent on him for resolution or approval, without the ability to function independently.

In the new European Commission, vice-presidents are either from the big Member States (like Spain, Italy and France) or have already proved their loyalty to von der Leyen, like the Finnish Henna Virkunnen (VP for tech sovereignty, security and democracy), or Kaja Kallas (High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy).

Even they have some overlapping responsibilities. For example, Kaja Kallas, who is responsible for security policies, will have to share some of the tasks with Andrius Kubilius (Commissioner for Defense), while yet another Commissioner, Jozef Sikela will be responsible for international partnerships.

Teresa Ribera (VP responsible for clean transition) will need to work with four commissioners (Health and animal welfare, climate and net zero growth, circular economy, energy and housing), but the commissioners for sustainable transportation, fisheries and oceans or agriculture, or economy and productivity will not report to her, even though there are several overlapping issues. The list could go on.

While “cooperation” is usually considered a positive thing, assigning tasks to multiple individuals might just as well lead to competition, confusion and inefficiency (as Boston has proved it), and at the same time, might keep political players vying for favors from the “boss”, making everybody else dependent on her.

It just adds an additional level of irony, that amidst all the talk about “equality”, minority rights actually received a downgrade in the new setup of the Commission. MEPs, NGOs and civil society have all expressed disappointment that “rights of women, migrants, people with disabilities, and other minorities” were “put on the back burner” after von der Leyen gave the equality brief to Belgian liberal Hadja Lahbib alongside a crisis management role, “rather than as a dedicated portfolio”.

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