Commission President Ursula von der Leyen appointed a representative of her own party to a new high-paying EU post. Now the situation took a new turn and von der Leyen suffered another humiliation.
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyenin appointed ambassador for SMEs Mark Pieper has resigned just hours before he was supposed to start his job on Tuesday, they say Politico and Euractive.
The appointment of German MEP Pieper caused an uproar within the commission because, according to media reports, he was promoted to the position over more qualified applicants. The fact that Pieper, like von der Leyen, represents the Christian Democrats of Germany also caused indignation. It is suspected that Von der Leyen promoted Pieper to the position in order to get support from the CDU party for his next term at the head of the European Commission.
The high representative of the EU’s foreign and security policy intervened in the matter Joseph Borrell and the Internal Market Commissioner Thierry BretonCommissioner for Employment and Social Affairs Nicolas Schmit and Financial Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni, who demanded an answer from von der Leyen in a letter about the fairness of the appointment process. The commissioners in question are among the political opponents of von der Leyen and his EPP group.
A Czech guy who got stranded as an ambassador for SMEs Martina Dlabajová The Renew group has made an official complaint to the commission about the recruitment process.
Pieper himself said in his statement that the opposition of Breton, the commissioner responsible for SMEs, would make it impossible to fulfill the expectations of the task. At the same time, Pieper accused Commissioner Breton, who belongs to the Renew group, of opposing the nomination due to party politics, which Breton’s office described as “ridiculous” and turning things upside down, according to Politico.
The Commission published a brief on the matter statement, according to which Chairman von der Leyen “respects and regrets” Pieper’s decision not to accept his position as an ambassador for SMEs. At the same time, von der Leyen decided that the re-election of the SME ambassador will only be started after the European parliamentary elections.
“The autonomy of the EU institutions in the selection of their officials must be respected,” the statement emphasizes.
Von der Leyen is applying for a further term at the head of the Commission as the top candidate of the largest EPP group in the parliament. The president of the commission is elected from the largest group in the European Parliament. The proposal based on the election result is made by the leaders of the EU countries at the European Council meeting, and the presidential candidate must also receive the support of the majority of the parliament.
At the moment, von der Leyen’s actions are also against the wind in the parliament. Last week, more than half of MEPs voted for what the Greens did amendment proposal for, where von der Leyen was demanded to back off from Pieper’s appointment and start “a truly transparent and open process to select the EU’s SME ambassador”.
Politicon according to the change proposal was made after the commission did not answer the parliament’s question about Pieper’s selection. It is not binding, but it is another humiliation for the President of the Commission.
The EPP, represented by von der Leyen and the Finnish coalition, tried to get an oral amendment to the vote, which defended Pieper’s election and accused the Greens of politicizing the situation. However, this did not advance to the vote.
Pieper’s appointment commotion is just one of many problemswhich threaten to topple von der Leyen’s dreams of another term at the head of the Commission.