German von der Leyen critics backpedal on resistance

Public resistance to a second Ursula Von der Leyen Commission is crumbling among her critics in the German government as the liberal FDP approved of her policy direction on Monday (1 July).

Contrary to rumours that EU leaders were considering alternative options, von der Leyen was nominated by EU leaders for a second term on Thursday (27 June), with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz voting in favour, his spokesperson confirmed on Friday.

The German coalition government had previously sounded divided: Scholz’s coalition partner, the pro-market FDP of Finance Minister Christian Lindner campaigned against the Commission president before the EU election with the slogan ‘Less von der Leyen, more freedom’, as they blamed her for increasing EU bureaucracy.

The FDP has an informal EU-level veto power within the German coalition, which it wielded to force concessions on the EU’s ban on new petrol and diesel cars. It is also a leading delegation of the liberal Renew Europe group, whose support von der Leyen needs for her final parliamentary confirmation vote.

The party now praised the development of the Commission, however, saying it was giving positive signals that the party had called for.

“I can […] already see that the future Commission will pursue a different policy to the Commission we have experienced in the past,” said FDP secretary-general Bijan Djir-Sarai on Monday (1 July).

“The Commission will be forced by the changed circumstances, to take a different stance, to set different priorities, especially in financial and economic policy, but also in foreign and security policy and above all in migration policy.”

He replied evasively when asked to specify whether the party had consented to Scholz’s vote for von der Leyen, saying merely that he “would not answer that question specifically.”

Euractiv understands that the German coalition is likely to have coordinated its position, implying that the FDP consented to German support for von der Leyen, however.

In 2019, Germany had abstained from voting on the nomination of von der Leyen’s first term, due to disagreements among the then-coalition partners, Nicolai von Ondarza, a European politics expert at the SWP think tank, noted.

A climb down?

Such consent would mark a notable climb down for the FDP, as Lindner had previously named “substantive conditions” for von der Leyen to commit to obtaining the German government’s support.

They included a strict approach to migration, a reversal of the EU ban on new petrol and diesel cars, and a promise to rule out new common EU debt.

While von der Leyen promised EU leaders to take tough measures on migration, no public commitment regarding the FDP’s other conditions emerged before or since the vote on Thursday at the EU leader’s level.

On Monday, Djir-Sarai merely spoke of “criteria” rather than conditions, which he could “somewhat discern (…) in those processes of change”, claiming they play “a major role in talks” ahead of von der Leyen’s investiture vote in the European Parliament.

Officially, the party remains undecided about supporting von der Leyen there, a party source told Euractiv.

After the election, Scholz’s SPD had accused the FDP, which is struggling in polls, of merely using a tough stance on nominating von der Leyen “for domestic political reasons.”

The party’s Secretary-General Kevin Kühnert told Euractiv that “nobody should use the complex negotiations on the new EU Commission to negotiate a kind of side coalition agreement.”

[Edited by Aurélie Pugnet/Alice Taylor]

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