Ursula von der Leyen has kept her party waiting for a long time, but now she is here. Seven minutes late, but accompanied by applause from the employees up in the stands of the Konrad-Adenauer-Haus, she steps onto the stage in the foyer on Monday lunchtime. The new bars of the CDU logo now have EU blue with stars, von der Leyen has her best TV smile on her face – and she has every reason for it.
Because CDU leader Friedrich Merz, who has lined up next to the EU Commission President, is now starting to say a lot of very kind words about von der Leyen. Merz says they are very grateful in the CDU for the work they have done in Brussels over the past five years. They were very challenging times, from the pandemic to the recession to the war in Ukraine. The fact that Europe stayed together is also her great achievement as head of the Commission.
And then he says that today in the Federal Executive Board they unanimously proposed von der Leyen as the top candidate of the European People’s Party (EPP) and would support her candidacy for a second term “with great sympathy, with a lot of support.” Merz reported from the committee meeting that they discussed for an hour and a half, and there were almost 20 requests to speak. He then goes on to say that they are confident that von der Leyen will be able to “lead a European Union into the future” under completely different circumstances.
It was said that the wait was keeping the office out of the election campaign
If you know how far apart Merz and von der Leyen are on many political issues, then you suspect that this appearance must have been at least ambivalent for the CDU leader. In addition, there has been grumbling within the party in recent months because von der Leyen has continued to postpone the date of her nomination by the CDU.
Merz had already said in a CDU board meeting a year ago that if von der Leyen wanted to run as the EPP’s top candidate, she would certainly receive the support of her party. All that was missing was a declaration from von der Leyen that she wanted to run – but that’s exactly what she took her time with. But now she had to show her colors, because in order to become the EPP’s top candidate, von der Leyen must be proposed by one of the EPP member parties – this week at the latest.
In her camp, the long hesitation was justified by the fact that the top candidate of a party family could quickly be accused of partisanship. By declaring your candidacy late, you keep the office out of the European election campaign. But something else may have played a role for von der Leyen: the later she made her decision, the more accurately she was able to assess her chances.
It promises to limit bureaucracy. Your party likes to hear that
Apparently she is now confident enough that a sufficient number of EU heads of state and government will propose her for a second term after the European elections. It is also becoming apparent that the EPP will once again be the largest group in the next EU Parliament. The risk of failure is now quite small for von der Leyen. Which is why she is now standing next to Merz, officially nominated by her party, and looks as if she is completely at home.
But von der Leyen also knows that her work as Commission President is by no means met with enthusiasm within the Union and its supporters. In particular, the EU’s climate policy course and newly added bureaucratic burdens displease the economic policy wing of the party and the traditional Union voters from medium-sized businesses, crafts and agriculture.
On Monday she said that in Europe democracy and “our values” must be “above everything”. At the same time, however, she makes it clear that the competitiveness of the EU should be the focus for her in the coming years, that the bureaucracy must be kept lean, and that one must talk to industry and agriculture about what they need in order to achieve the climate goals. She herself “actively” addressed the bureaucracy in the Federal Executive Board today. “We have to reduce the bureaucratic burden on the economy.” She is responsible for the EU level, which is why she has also announced that reporting obligations for companies will be cut by 25 percent.
Von der Leyen will be chosen as the official EPP candidate in Bucharest at the beginning of March. Her election at the EPP congress is considered safe. This time, von der Leyen will be determined as a candidate before the election. Five years ago things were different: Back then, no one had her on the list. Von der Leyen only came into play when the then EPP top candidate Manfred Weber (CSU) was prevented by several heads of state and government after the election.