Her father was a very powerful politician, serving as Prime Minister of the German state of Lower Saxony and as one of the first European civil servants. Von der Leyen - Germany's former defense minister - is not your typical Eurocrat. Some believe the reason so many have been happy to take potshots at her is down to jealousy of her privileged background. Naturally, much of that anger has been aimed at the head of the institution herself.Įver since the vaccine spat, von der Leyen has been under an abnormal level of scrutiny - even for someone holding such powerful office - and plenty of critics have been more than happy to draw comparisons between her perceived failures in Berlin and Brussels. The spat has been temporarily resolved, but there is lingering anger aimed at the Commission for threatening to take such dramatic measures. The EU's unedifying spat with the United Kingdom over Covid-19 vaccines has dragged von der Leyen and her management style into the spotlight.Īfter Brussels got jittery that its vaccination program was lagging behind, thanks to a shortage of doses, the Commission proposed placing export controls on vaccine manufacturers, meaning the EU could monitor - and potentially prevent - vaccines leaving the bloc.Īs part of this proposal, the Commission said that those controls could be applied to vaccines going from the Republic of Ireland (part of the EU) into Northern Ireland (part of the UK).Ĭritics immediately panned Brussels for even toying with the idea of placing restrictions on the Irish border, for fear it could lead to the return of sectarian, cross-border violence on the island of Ireland.Ī series of hurried, worried phone calls took place between European capitals who had not been consulted on this move - including, bafflingly, Dublin.ĮU diplomats and officials in Brussels were embarrassed by what appeared to be a unilateral threat from the Commission to the UK, a sovereign nation, and a clear risk to civil society in Northern Ireland - a weird flex for an institution which purports to promote and protect peace and civility.Įmbarrassment turned to anger when von der Leyen and her team tried to lay the blame on her executive vice president, Valdis Dombrovskis. So if your name's appearing in the media, chances are, something's probably gone very wrong. President of the European Commission, the European Union's executive branch and most powerful institution, is not a job that enjoys the fame or the grandeur of a national leader. It's likely that, a couple of weeks ago, you'd never heard the name Ursula von der Leyen.
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