If European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen continues to concentrate power in her hands, she is unlikely to maintain neither the support of the European Parliament nor the benevolent backing on belahlf of Member States’ leaders which is essential for consensus-building.
Despite preliminary warnings that the Commission is evolving from a technical body into a political actor, and she will be even more in control of everything, her leadership style has grown more controlling than ever following that she began her second five-year term in 2024.
The number of confrontations von der Leyen faces with both Member States’s leaders and the European Parliament has significantly increased as she is expanding her powers.
As for the European Parliament, there is criticism towards von der Leyen from all sides and concerning all areas ranging from foreign policy to competitiveness, from budget to climate legislation and issues related to the Green Deal as well.
From this list, two areas, namely foreign policy and budget worth highlighting as these are that very spheres where Commission President seems determined not only to concentrate power but even to increase her influence.
’In addition to reshaping the EU’s foreign policy, von der Leyen is also seeking to centralise the Union’s budget process – a move that would further consolidate her power’, an analysis by UnHerd, one of the biggest UK political commentary site says.
The new budget plan for the period 2028-2034 proposes the creation of a single national pot for each member state, which will determine spending in sectors ranging from farm subsidies to social housing. Under von der Leyen’s proposed model, the money would no longer be given to local bodies but to national governments, conditional – and this is key – upon the implementation of reforms dictated by Brussels. This would essentially create an institutionalised system of financial blackmail, offering the Commission a powerful tool to pressure countries to conform to the EU’s agenda by withholding funds in case of non-compliance, UnHerd explains.
The attack on von der Leyen due to this proposal came as no surprise in the European Parliament whose four centrist groups – the European People’s Party, the Socialists, the Renew Europe and the Greens – have demanded von der Leyen make major changes to her plan for the EU’s next seven-year budget.
In a letter to the President of the European Commission, the group leaders were threatening to reject a key part of the 2028-2034 budget unless their conditions are met in a new amended proposal from von der Leyen.
Although she has survived two no-confidence votes so far, if she continues to refuse to change her leadership style which many perceive as too centralized, an all-European opposisition may shake her top job. The latest developments in the EP clearly indicate that many political groups, including her own EPP, believe what she is doing is obviously a centralization of authority in her hands.
As in her second term she has apparently decided to break with tradition of respecting core European values, instead she applies the principle of ’divide et impera’ – divide and conquer –, this leaves no illusion to believe that she would be ready to change anything.
With regard to her authoritarian management style, the apparent weakness of certain European leaders should be mentioned since the fact that leaders of France and Germany, are in fact preoccupied with domestic issues and this undoubtably contributes to von der Leyen’s growing infleunce in Brussels. As a result of Macron’s and Merz’s domestic problems, she can feel free to do anything in the EU, thus gaining more and more influence over the European decision-making.
In addition, she built a team of supporters in and around the Commission. The so-called Baltic Squad should be mentioned in this context at the first place, which members are in charge of the most important portfolios ranging from foreign policy to defence issues and economy. Latvian EU Commissioner for Economy Valdis Dombrovskis, Lithuanian EU Commissioner for Defence Andrius Kubilius and Kaja Kallas, the EU’s Foreign Policy chief from Estonia use all their influence to support Commission President von der Leyen.
With this extremely loyal team, together with a number of other officials from the Commission, EC President faces the challenges from both the Member States and the European Parliament – actors, which she seems to forget that she needs both to exercise her powers and to stay in power, according to EU principles.
Given Ursula von der Leyen’s authoritarian style of leadership, it is only a matter of time Europe will hold her accountable for the lack of transparency and why all the political decisions are taken at the level of the president of the European Commission.
The question is, how long can things continue like this in Brussels.
While most recently it has been the approval of the EU’s next budget that has been at the forefront of political battles, the overall geopolitical situation might change in the near future, with even more serious issues at stake, including the safety of millions of people. What will happen in a situation where there will be no time to settle political conflicts between von der Leyen and the EP, and an emergency decision will be required to save Europe from war?
