Eu Parliament
Von der Leyen is accused of nepotism
Did EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen specifically give a party colleague an office? photo
© Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP/dpa
Is there nepotism in Ursula von der Leyen’s EU Commission? A majority in the EU Parliament suspects this and has now pushed through an explosive proposal.
The European Parliament has informed the EU Commission of Ursula von der Leyen called on the appointment of the German CDU politician Markus Pieper as the EU Commission’s representative for small and medium-sized companies to be reversed. A motion written by the Greens, Social Democrats and Liberals was approved in plenary session with 382 votes. 144 MPs voted against it, 80 abstained.
The reason for their move was that the MPs cited doubts as to whether Pieper’s appointment took into account “the principles of performance, gender balance and geographical balance”. The Commission President was indirectly accused of having specifically chosen a party friend in Pieper. The motion now calls on the Commission to initiate “a truly transparent and open process” for the selection of the commissioner.
The background to the allegations is, among other things, that in the initial phase of the application process two applicants were rated better than the 60-year-old Pieper. The CDU politician, who comes from Münsterland, only prevailed in the selection interviews.
Employees and speakers do not see any wrong decision
A spokesman for von der Leyen made it clear shortly after the decision that there were no plans to reverse the personnel decision. He emphasized that all rules were adhered to during the selection process and that each EU institution could decide autonomously about filling positions. According to the commission, Pieper is expected to take up the position, which comes with a five-figure monthly salary, next week as planned.
Von der Leyen’s employees have repeatedly pointed out in recent weeks that it is completely normal in the application process for candidates who did particularly well in the first round of tests not to be successful in the end. In addition, reference was made, among other things, to Pieper’s many years of experience in medium-sized business policy.
The applicants are accused of running a political campaign before the European elections in June. This is supported by the fact that EU commissioners from the ranks of the now critical party families did not take advantage of the opportunity to object in the internal authority procedure, it is said.
The Commission’s first SME Commissioner was appointed in 2001. It is intended to act as an interface to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and ensure that their interests are heard in legislative processes.