Von der Leyen’s re-election chances hit by
€17k-a-month job for ally
European Commission defends appointing adviser Markus
Pieper after selection process is questioned
Lisa
O'Carroll in Brussels
Fri 5 Apr
2024 15.00 CEST
Ursula von
der Leyen’s run for a second term as president of the European Commission has
been dented after accusations of favouritism in the selection of a fellow party
member for a lucrative new job.
Some of the
highest-ranking people in Brussels, including the EU’s chief diplomat, Josep
Borrell, and the French commissioner Thierry Breton, have written to von der
Leyen to complain that the appointment of the German MEP Markus Pieper as a
special adviser “has triggered questions about the transparency and
impartiality of the nomination process”.
Pieper, who
comes from the same CDU party as von der Leyen, was appointed recently as
special envoy for small and medium-sized enterprises, but MEPs have already
questioned whether he was the highest-performing candidate in the selection
process. According to reports, the job has a ranking within the commission that
commands a salary of €17,000 (£14,580) a month.
The
commission has defended the appointment saying it “has every confidence in the
fact that the process took place in full compliance with procedures”.
The letter
was also signed by Nicolas Schmit, the jobs and social rights commissioner, and
Paolo Gentiloni, the commissioner for the economy.
The
intervention of senior EU politicians in the controversy is the first sign of
trouble for von der Leyen’s candidacy for a second five-year term at the helm
of the commission. She was parachuted into the presidential candidacy process
as a compromise candidate in 2019, so this is the first time she has had to run
a campaign, which officially kicks off in Greece on Sunday.
Until now
she had been considered a dead cert for the job. She had already been selected
as the sole candidate for the job by the European People’s party (EPP), the
umbrella group of EU centre-right parties to which the CDU party belongs and
the largest group in the European parliament.
On Friday
the EPP announced von der Leyen’s right-hand person in the commission, Björn
Seibert, was taking unpaid leave to run her campaign. It said he would return
to his job after the EU elections in June even though the campaign will not end
until September, at the earliest, when the European parliament will be asked to
vote on the new top jobs in Brussels.
Member
states are expected to back her in a round of political horse-trading that
follows the election and decides on the preferred candidates for the other
principal roles, including chief diplomat and head of the European Council.
Her
position is far from guaranteed, with the four signatories of the letter coming
from non-EPP parties. Her reappointment after the EU elections will almost
certainly need approval by those parties – Borrell’s group, the socialists, and
Breton’s group, the liberals – to get a majority vote in September.
MEPs have
already expressed concerns and tabled a written question to the commission
asking how Pieper scored in the internal and external assessments.
The
EurActiv website reported that the Czech MEP Martina Dlabajová and Sweden’s
Anna Stellinger “both scored higher than Pieper in the assessments by at least
30%”, while Transparency International has called for an investigation into a
potentially flawed appointment process.
In the
letter, Breton and his colleague say: “Given that the response to the written
question [by MEPs] is a matter for the commission as a whole, we consider it
appropriate for the college to collectively discuss the answer to these
allegations as well as the possible impact on the next steps in the recruitment
process.”
In a sign
of the political rivalries that are now at play before the elections, the
commission spokesperson Eric Mamer pointed out that Breton was consulted over
the process. He is widely seen as being close to the French president, Emmanuel
Macron, whose party is aligned to the liberal group in the EU parliament, and
has previously criticised von der Leyen, leading some to suggest he could yet
emerge as a contender for her job.
Pieper did
not respond to the claims but said he was “looking forward” to taking on the
role, “even if it is with a heavy heart that I leave the parliament”. His
allies said the controversy was “pure party politics” ahead of the election,
pointing out that none of the signatories had raised objections before the
appointment.
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