German CDU wants more influence on von der Leyen commission after election

Ursula von der Leyen and her party, the German CDU, are approaching the EU election campaign united in an alliance of convenience, with the party making it clear that the Commission president must now deliver policies that are more to its liking.

Von der Leyen’s relationship with her party has not always been easy: Her Commission’s supposed overregulation and the de-facto ban of combustion-engine car sales after 2035 did not sit well with the business-friendly CDU.

But von der Leyen and the party have linked up facing the election campaign, with the CDU formulating the expectation that Von der Leyen II – if she is elected Commission president again – must implement policies more to her party’s liking.

“In the eyes of the population, (…) the EU is seen as an institution that regulates too much on a small scale and achieves too little on a large scale,” CDU leader Friedrich Merz told delegates at the to the CDU’s annual conference in Berlin on Monday (6 May).

He added, “This must change in the coming years, and I know that Ursula von der Leyen sees it the same way.”

While the Commission president paid a visit to the conference on Wednesday (8 May) officially to launch the CDU election campaign, negotiations with party officials took place behind the scenes over the future agenda of the next Commission.

Party officials are willing to discount last term’s policies, including those on combustion-engine cars, as owed to influential left-leaning Commissioners and the absence of a blocking majority to veto proposals in the college.

“There were difficulties between the CDU and the Commission when Frans Timmermans was still involved,” Peter Liese, a leading CDU MEP, told Euractiv.

“Since his departure, the Commission has been much more constructive and there is also an intensive dialogue with Friedrich Merz,” Liese added, pointing to the Commission’s policy record since then.

With more EPP governments in office around the EU, majorities are due to change in the EPP’s favour.

CDU officials hinted that in turn for their support for von der Leyen, she is expected to make use of them to cut red tape and deliver policies deemed more appropriate to meet the challenges of the green transition.

“After the election, the EPP will have a majority of Commissioners and a blocking majority. Then [von der Leyen] will have to deliver,” a party source told Euractiv.

Conversely, the CDU appears to appreciate the advantage of having a direct connection to the Commission, and of having a German Commission president on Germany’s campaign trail.

“Voters’ reactions to Ursula von der Leyen as Commission President and EPP lead candidate have been extremely positive so far,” CDU MEP David McAllister told Euractiv.

He also branded “media reports“ over problems between von der Leyen and the CDU “completely exaggerated”.

Nevertheless, the CDU banks on the national narrative of being an antidote to Germany’s unstable centre-left coalition, with the Commission president not featuring on campaign posters until two weeks before the election.

At the conference, von der Leyen signalled awareness of the expectations that she will have to meet to please  [AP2] her party.

In her speech, she addressed CDU pet topics such as promising deregulation, support for farmers, and resistance against the far-right AfD, embedded in a story about her family.

“Europe is needed less on a small scale and more on a large scale,” she said, echoing Merz.

Still, trust in her reliability remains shaky.

“With von der Leyen, you never know what you may get tomorrow,” a party source told Euractiv.

(Nick Alipour|Euractiv.de – Edited by Aurélie Pugnet, Alice Taylor)

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