LETTER FROM BRUSSELS
For Ursula von der Leyen, the case is complex. While the President of the European Commission has made the Green Deal one of the priorities of her mandate, she must now face an outcry from the conservatives of the European People’s Party (EPP), including the former minister of Angela Merkel is out. Indeed, they contest more and more openly the merits of this policy. With the approach of the European elections, scheduled for June 2024, the German, who could run for a second term and who will need the support of her camp for this, is walking on eggshells.
On Thursday June 29, European right-wing heads of state and government – Nikos Christodoulides (Cyprus), Krisjanis Karins (Latvia), Ulf Kristersson (Sweden), Kyriakos Mitsotakis (Greece), Karl Nehammer (Austria), Petteri Orpo (Finland ), Andrej Plenkovic (Croatia) and Leo Varadkar (Ireland) – who were meeting in Brussels before heading to a European Council, all endorsed an EPP statement calling for “regulatory break” at European level, in particular on the Green Deal. The text calls on institutions to “taking into account the new economic and social realities after the attack on Russia” against Ukraine.
Ursula von der Leyen, who, as always, attended this meeting, did not intervene in the debate. She chose to remain silent. Several leaders, including Messrs. Plenkovic, Varadkar and Karins, nevertheless stressed that, in attacking the Green Pact, care must be taken not to ” weaken “ the President of the Commission, which could allow the EPP to keep the head of the Community executive after the European elections of June 2024.
In fact, on environmental issues, the EPP has always avoided, so far, directly attacking Ursula von der Leyen, who has nevertheless made the Green Pact a centerpiece of its action in Europe. He prefers to stigmatize Frans Timmermans, the Vice-President of the Commission in charge of the Green Pact, who for his part comes from the ranks of the Social Democrats. The EPP never misses an opportunity to point out that the Dutch commissioner’s chief of staff is a former Greenpeace employee.
Radical transformation of the EPP
In the entourage of Ursula von der Leyen, it is pointed out that she is required to attend the pre-summits of the EPP as President of the Commission. But that in no case it participates in the drafting of the conclusions. “It’s a bit hypocritical”, replies an EPP executive. Asked by The world on the subject, Ursula von der Leyen replies that she “listen of course to the voices of those who have to implement the legislation in their business or farm”, specifying: “My position is well known: environmental regulation and competitiveness or agriculture can go hand in hand. »
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