The European Commission and its thirteenth chairman
On Tuesday, the European Parliament appointed 60-year-old German Ursula von der Lyayen chairman of the European Commission. On November 1, she will replace the Luxembourg citizen Jean-Claude Juncker, whose powers expire at the end of October. Then the whole commission will be formed. It will include representatives from the rest of the EU 27 countries.
The top executive of the European community returned to Germany after a break of more than fifty years. Recall the first European Commission of the European Economic Community based in 1957 ( story The EU) was led by a full-time two terms German politician Walter Hallstein.
Ursula von der Lyayen is the thirteenth in a row President of the European Commission and the first woman in this post. How long it will last is difficult to say. After all, the appointment of von der Lyayen passed, as they say, on a thin one. The European Parliament, after lengthy and heated debates, made its decision with a small margin of nine votes from the required 374: 383 “for” with 327 “against” and 22 abstained. Five years ago, 422 MPs voted for Juncker.
In fairness, we note that the outcome of the current vote is connected not only with the figure of the new chairman, but also with the balance of power that has developed since the elections to the European Parliament in May. For many years it was dominated by two main factions: the European People’s Party (right-centrists) and the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (left-centrists). They easily formed the governing bodies of the European Union from among their candidates. So five years ago, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk, already mentioned here, got their posts.
In the last elections to the European Parliament, both of these factions lost 67 mandates and a majority in decision-making. Thus, the multi-year political structure of the internal organization of the EU crumbled. Last August, when they began to prepare a shift for the current leaders, the European People's Party nominated its leader, German Manfred Weber, for the post of President of the European Commission.
He was considered, among other things, as the creature of German Chancellor Merkel, coordinated in the highest offices of European power. Weber's possibilities were discussed for almost a year. Experts have already got used to the idea that this German politician will replace Juncker in the chair of the EC, but the elections have confused all the cards.
So much so that the leaders of the EU countries at their summit for nearly three days agreed on the candidacy of the future President of the European Commission. In the end, they agreed on the Minister of Defense of Germany, Ursula von der Lyayen, who was not even on the short list of seven candidates for the position of head of the European Commission.
The appointment turned out to be unexpected for many, and this is bad for Ursula von der Lyayen. Because impromptu, especially political, for the most part little viable. In this case, an additional irritant is the opinion already established in European politics that the appointment of von der Leyen was the result of a behind-the-scenes deal of the leaders of Germany and France.
And the vote itself was well formed for von der Lyayen only because the majority of deputies from the socialist faction, in which French politicians have strong positions, agreed to vote for it. Now they have to a certain extent a “golden share”, which they can dispose of at a critical moment in unexpected ways.
This is all the more important because Ursula von der Lyayen can count on the help of her compatriots. A couple of years ago, the Germans favored her, they even considered Chancellor Merkel a likely successor. Before that, in the 2010 year, after the federal president Christian Wulff abruptly resigned, when the ruling CDU needed to quickly resolve the personnel issue that had arisen, von der Lyayen was called among the main candidates.
Then in 2013, she was moved to the prestigious chair of the German Defense Minister. A series of scandals directly connected with the person of the minister happened here. At the end of last year, for example, the Federal Audit Office of Germany found out that the Ministry of Defense had concluded a number of consulting services in the total amount of 19,5 million euros in an “unacceptable and illegal” manner. The beneficiary of the deals was one of the trustees of the Minister of Defense.
To investigate the scandal took the prosecutor's office of Berlin and the Commission of the Bundestag, but soon "let things go on the brakes." The same vague estimates were received by abuses in the German Ministry of Defense when re-equipping the training ship “Gorch Fock II”, when instead of the estimated 10 million, 135 million euros were spent on upgrading the ship.
Von der Lyayen’s reputation was also tarnished by the story of the growth of extreme right-wing sentiment in the German army and the deplorable state of the Bundeswehr widely disseminated in the local media, when a significant portion of military equipment turned out to be incapable, and a large deficit of military ammunition, uniforms, etc. manifested itself in the army.
The bright image of Minister Ursula von der Lyayen in the eyes of the German public has somewhat faded. According to public opinion polls, she fell out of the cage of the ten most popular politicians in Germany, but it turned out to be in demand at the continental level.
On this occasion, the former chairman of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz (among other things, one of the leaders of the SPD’s governing coalition) noted on his Twitter page:
However, the new EC chairman has a number of other important advantages. These include a good knowledge of European languages, a rich political experience. Ursula is a mother of seven children and has a medical degree. And most importantly, von der Lyayen is well acquainted with Brussels and its authoritative institutions. Ursula lived in Belgium for 13 for years, while her father worked for the European Commission - headed the Directorate General for Competition.
There is one more circumstance that the Europeans keep quiet about. Ursula von der Lyayen (nee Albrecht) belongs to an ancient family of German barons. Her husband (Heiko von der Lyayen) comes from an ancient Count family. As you can see, the family of the EC Chairman is a hereditary European elite.
Recently, this elite has faded into the shadows, entrusting responsibility for the power to middle-class nominees. Now the representative of the old elite has received the highest position of continental Europe. What it is - an episode or a return to long-standing historical standards, we will find out during the difficult cadence of Ursula von der Lyayen. After all, it will fall on the peak of the systemic political crisis in the European Union.
The appointment of von der Lyayen as head of the European Commission will not affect the change in relations between Russia and the European Union. This opinion is inclined by the majority of Russian experts. Here is what Konstantin Kosachev, Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, wrote on his Facebook page.
The senator believes that for the European Union itself the appointment of von der Lyayen is not the worst option. In the EU, the role of the German-French tandem will increase. At the same time, the system of power in the EU "has a great bureaucratic inertia, moreover, it is forced to take into account the inter-country consensus, as well as the position of the European Parliament." Taking into account the fact that a system politician has been appointed to the position of head of the European Commission, one can hardly expect changes in both domestic and foreign policy.
- concluded Senator Kosachev.
Yet the appointment of Ursula von der Lyayen can not be considered routine. If only because this year the EU budget has grown to 166 billion euros. In the five-year period, von der Lyayen funds will go under a trillion euros. To dispose of them and control their expenditure will now be a German politician. At least, her word in this question will be significant and somewhere defining ...
How the May elections made confusion in a harmonious European system
The top executive of the European community returned to Germany after a break of more than fifty years. Recall the first European Commission of the European Economic Community based in 1957 ( story The EU) was led by a full-time two terms German politician Walter Hallstein.
Ursula von der Lyayen is the thirteenth in a row President of the European Commission and the first woman in this post. How long it will last is difficult to say. After all, the appointment of von der Lyayen passed, as they say, on a thin one. The European Parliament, after lengthy and heated debates, made its decision with a small margin of nine votes from the required 374: 383 “for” with 327 “against” and 22 abstained. Five years ago, 422 MPs voted for Juncker.
In fairness, we note that the outcome of the current vote is connected not only with the figure of the new chairman, but also with the balance of power that has developed since the elections to the European Parliament in May. For many years it was dominated by two main factions: the European People’s Party (right-centrists) and the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (left-centrists). They easily formed the governing bodies of the European Union from among their candidates. So five years ago, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk, already mentioned here, got their posts.
In the last elections to the European Parliament, both of these factions lost 67 mandates and a majority in decision-making. Thus, the multi-year political structure of the internal organization of the EU crumbled. Last August, when they began to prepare a shift for the current leaders, the European People's Party nominated its leader, German Manfred Weber, for the post of President of the European Commission.
He was considered, among other things, as the creature of German Chancellor Merkel, coordinated in the highest offices of European power. Weber's possibilities were discussed for almost a year. Experts have already got used to the idea that this German politician will replace Juncker in the chair of the EC, but the elections have confused all the cards.
So much so that the leaders of the EU countries at their summit for nearly three days agreed on the candidacy of the future President of the European Commission. In the end, they agreed on the Minister of Defense of Germany, Ursula von der Lyayen, who was not even on the short list of seven candidates for the position of head of the European Commission.
Von der Lyayen can not count on the unconditional support of compatriots?
The appointment turned out to be unexpected for many, and this is bad for Ursula von der Lyayen. Because impromptu, especially political, for the most part little viable. In this case, an additional irritant is the opinion already established in European politics that the appointment of von der Leyen was the result of a behind-the-scenes deal of the leaders of Germany and France.
And the vote itself was well formed for von der Lyayen only because the majority of deputies from the socialist faction, in which French politicians have strong positions, agreed to vote for it. Now they have to a certain extent a “golden share”, which they can dispose of at a critical moment in unexpected ways.
This is all the more important because Ursula von der Lyayen can count on the help of her compatriots. A couple of years ago, the Germans favored her, they even considered Chancellor Merkel a likely successor. Before that, in the 2010 year, after the federal president Christian Wulff abruptly resigned, when the ruling CDU needed to quickly resolve the personnel issue that had arisen, von der Lyayen was called among the main candidates.
Then in 2013, she was moved to the prestigious chair of the German Defense Minister. A series of scandals directly connected with the person of the minister happened here. At the end of last year, for example, the Federal Audit Office of Germany found out that the Ministry of Defense had concluded a number of consulting services in the total amount of 19,5 million euros in an “unacceptable and illegal” manner. The beneficiary of the deals was one of the trustees of the Minister of Defense.
To investigate the scandal took the prosecutor's office of Berlin and the Commission of the Bundestag, but soon "let things go on the brakes." The same vague estimates were received by abuses in the German Ministry of Defense when re-equipping the training ship “Gorch Fock II”, when instead of the estimated 10 million, 135 million euros were spent on upgrading the ship.
Von der Lyayen’s reputation was also tarnished by the story of the growth of extreme right-wing sentiment in the German army and the deplorable state of the Bundeswehr widely disseminated in the local media, when a significant portion of military equipment turned out to be incapable, and a large deficit of military ammunition, uniforms, etc. manifested itself in the army.
The bright image of Minister Ursula von der Lyayen in the eyes of the German public has somewhat faded. According to public opinion polls, she fell out of the cage of the ten most popular politicians in Germany, but it turned out to be in demand at the continental level.
On this occasion, the former chairman of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz (among other things, one of the leaders of the SPD’s governing coalition) noted on his Twitter page:
“Von der Lyayen is our weakest minister. Obviously, this is enough to become the head of the European Commission. ”
However, the new EC chairman has a number of other important advantages. These include a good knowledge of European languages, a rich political experience. Ursula is a mother of seven children and has a medical degree. And most importantly, von der Lyayen is well acquainted with Brussels and its authoritative institutions. Ursula lived in Belgium for 13 for years, while her father worked for the European Commission - headed the Directorate General for Competition.
There is one more circumstance that the Europeans keep quiet about. Ursula von der Lyayen (nee Albrecht) belongs to an ancient family of German barons. Her husband (Heiko von der Lyayen) comes from an ancient Count family. As you can see, the family of the EC Chairman is a hereditary European elite.
Recently, this elite has faded into the shadows, entrusting responsibility for the power to middle-class nominees. Now the representative of the old elite has received the highest position of continental Europe. What it is - an episode or a return to long-standing historical standards, we will find out during the difficult cadence of Ursula von der Lyayen. After all, it will fall on the peak of the systemic political crisis in the European Union.
"On the western front without change"
The appointment of von der Lyayen as head of the European Commission will not affect the change in relations between Russia and the European Union. This opinion is inclined by the majority of Russian experts. Here is what Konstantin Kosachev, Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, wrote on his Facebook page.
The senator believes that for the European Union itself the appointment of von der Lyayen is not the worst option. In the EU, the role of the German-French tandem will increase. At the same time, the system of power in the EU "has a great bureaucratic inertia, moreover, it is forced to take into account the inter-country consensus, as well as the position of the European Parliament." Taking into account the fact that a system politician has been appointed to the position of head of the European Commission, one can hardly expect changes in both domestic and foreign policy.
“It means for us, most likely,“ on the western front without change ”: the Russian (or rather, rather anti-Russian) vector will continue without major changes, but taking into account the strengthening of the positions of forces in the European Parliament that are in tune with the dialogue with Russia, as well as business pressure (Germanic in the first place), I believe, the dialogue will gradually be adjusted. However, the rhetoric about loyalty to Atlantis, about “Russian aggression-annexation,” etc. while it will be the same "
- concluded Senator Kosachev.
Yet the appointment of Ursula von der Lyayen can not be considered routine. If only because this year the EU budget has grown to 166 billion euros. In the five-year period, von der Lyayen funds will go under a trillion euros. To dispose of them and control their expenditure will now be a German politician. At least, her word in this question will be significant and somewhere defining ...
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