The unrest in the room is growing noticeably. But Ursula von der Leyen talks first of all about the structure of her new commission and her somewhat perverted plan to work paperless at meetings in the future. "Paperless," she says, that sounds modern. It is Tuesday afternoon, shortly after 12 o'clock. Numerous journalists have gathered in the press room of the EU Commission and really only want to know one thing: who will what in the new European government?
For days Brussels has been looking forward to the distribution of the departments. But the future head of the commission wants her audience to understand exactly how their new team introduces their work. Therefore, she not only unwinds names, but draws diagrams. Von der Leyen acts a bit like a primary school teacher, who wants to make sure that even the weakest in the class come along: Eight vice presidents will be there in the future, three of them in a prominent, "executive" position. So much superstructure actually requires an explanation.
- The Social Democrat Frans Timmermans from the Netherlands, who failed as a leading candidate for the Commission's presidency, is to take care of the so-called Green Deal, that is, everything that has to do with climate policy.
- The star of the old and probably also new commission, the liberal Margrethe Vestager , becomes vice-president for digital and at the same time retains the competition competence, with which she became in the past years to the fright of the tech giants from the USA.
- The third is Valdis Dombrovskis , who always seems a bit bland, and is probably only mentioned in the same breath as the other two, because the European People's Party (EPP) wanted to have one of the outstanding posts for a Christian Democrat.
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Future EU Commissioners: From the Leyens Wunschteam"We want to bring more momentum to European democracy"
Almost two hours takes away from the Leyen time. Since her election to the European Parliament and a few interviews at the end of July, she has not been seen in Brussels. There is a fundamental concern that swells her team, she now says: "We want to bring more momentum into European democracy."
Europe had to deliver on the big issues: climate protection, Brexit, the relationship with Donald Trump, Brexit - no issue will be solved without the EU. "We want to be a strong geopolitical commission," says von der Leyen.
The 60-year-old wants to work in "clusters", even a modern-sounding leaning on the language of the managers. Two vice-presidents are responsible for these topics and working groups. An example: Christian Democrat Dombrowskis should take care of an "economy that works for the people". His counterpart is a currency commissioner from the south, the Italian social democrat Paolo Gentiloni .
Balance conflicts in the cluster
The idea seems to be the same as that of Leyen's predecessor Jean-Claude Juncker: The different political ideas within the EU, such as the debt criteria of the Stability and Growth Pact, should already be balanced out with the staff constellation.
That did not work out right at Juncker. Ursula von der Leyen, however, is in good spirits: "As an experienced former prime minister, he knows exactly which difficult questions to ask him," she says about Gentiloni's cast. The fact that her party friends from CDU and CSU are more afraid that the Italians will turn out to be the gravedigger of the European debt rules, does not challenge the new Commission chief. On the talk of the Union Hinterbank she had already put in Berlin no value. "We have a Stability and Growth Pact, the rules and borders are clear, the flexibilities are clear," she says.
But the European Parliament is not that important. And that's not just because MEPs are now going to question each new Commissioner strictly, and in extreme cases could turn down the entire Commission. Above all, the parliamentary majority for von der Leyen was thin in her election in July: So if she wants to organize future majorities for her projects, she needs a larger platform. That's another reason why it was important to divide their new commission posts as meticulously as possible between Christian and Social Democrats.
Stimulus words such as migration are abbreviated
The Greek Margaritis Schinas, for example, the press spokesman for the European Commission, will also be vice-president for the EPP. In the future, he will look after the "protection of the European way of life". Behind this harmless-looking title is also the serious issue of migration policy. Schinas will therefore work closely with the Swedish Social Democrat Yiva Johansson , who will be in charge of the Interior Department .
On the one hand, it seems, from the Leyen whirls the previous structure quite confused. This seems gripping, new and fearless. On the other hand, there are often simply more succinct names for known tasks. The Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs becomes the "Economic Commissioner", the Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labor Mobility the "Jobs" Commissioner. And "Migration and Home Affairs" simply becomes "interior".
What this eliminates are merely stimulus words that have the potential to fight - currency, social issues, migration. If one asks of the Leyen, there is supposedly no calculus behind it. "The names of the portfolios have been getting longer over time, we've streamlined that," she explains.
There are many critical questions about the appointment of Vera Jourová as Vice President of Values and Transparency. After all, the former Justice Commissioner comes from the party of the Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, one of the richest entrepreneurs in the country, who is accused of sloppy handling of EU regional funding. "There is a consensus that she has worked as a Justice Commissioner excellent," said of the Leyen against. In addition, the Belgian Didier Reynders also takes care of the judiciary. It sounds like he should act as watchdog.
On the other hand, the appointment of Jourova could also prove to be a wise move. Poland and Hungary, for example, will find it harder in the future to present the criminal proceedings against them as a conflict between East and West if a Commissioner from the Visegrad Czech Republic is responsible. Also, in the past, Jourova has not been gentle with states that have shown deficiencies in the rule of law. For example, she was one of the first Member States concerned to call for EU subsidies.
Even from the Leyen itself has to clear prejudices out of the way. She does not want to be considered the head of the European Commission in Brussels, but she does not want to be the President of the French Presidency Emmanuel Macron. As far as the Germans are concerned, skeptics can be reassured: They get away from the Leyen in Brussels, and that's the way it stays.
"Quality and excellence is everything that counts"
The French, on the other hand, can look forward to a hefty portfolio on Tuesday for their Commissioner Sylvia Goulard . It gets upgraded Internal Market services and is also responsible for better co-operation in defense procurement. Lastly, there were severe moods between Paris and Berlin in this regard.
Shortly before 14 o'clock the Leyen sets off. Her appearance answered many questions, but also introduced some new ones. How her new team plays together, will show in the coming months, if from the Leyen wants to score with a first climate network. "This is a team as diverse as Europe, as strong as Europe," she says at the end of her presentation.
So it is clear that von der Leyen starts with plenty of self-confidence and confidence in their new task. The question of whether the new power for Google shock Vestager could not bounce the Americans, they confessed sovereignly: "Quality and excellence is all that matters." What is not important, according to the implicit message, is how Washington rates its personnel decisions.
