The EC president is reportedly coming under internal pressure amid concerns that she is centralizing authority
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is reportedly softening her push to create a spy unit under her direct control after facing significant internal resistance, Politico reported on Monday. The move follows a prolonged standoff with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and reportedly growing wariness over von der Leyen’s consolidation of power.
Plans for a dedicated intelligence cell within the Commission were first announced in November and described as an effort to protect the EU from supposed hybrid threats from Russia. The unit was to operate across the bloc and report directly to the EC president.
However, four officials told POLITICO that von der Leyen is scaling back the initiative, with the cell now likely to be downgraded to a security unit. This would leave most intelligence-sharing to the already existing EU foreign service center (INTCEN), which is overseen by Kallas.
The retreat comes amid a bitter bureaucratic rivalry “worthy of ‘Game of Thrones’” between the two top officials, French newspaper Le Monde writes. Kallas is said to have privately complained about von der Leyen’s “dictator” style after she blocked Kallas’s attempt to appoint a key ally to a senior post.
Von der Leyen has faced mounting criticism over her leadership, with critics accusing her of centralizing power, lacking transparency, and bypassing member states. Former Commissioner Nicolas Schmit stated that under her “very centralized” system, commissioners are “largely silenced.”
Despite her growing unpopularity, she has survived multiple no-confidence votes in the European Parliament, where opponents have accused her of lacking accountability and funneling billions into militarization.
Her tenure has also been marred by major corruption scandals, including the ‘Pfizergate’ case, in which she unlawfully deleted text messages about a backdoor Covid vaccine deal with the US pharmaceutical giant, as per an EU court ruling.
Moscow has also repeatedly criticized the EC president, who has been a vocal advocate for confronting Russia and arming Ukraine.
Russian officials have slammed her push to turn the EU into a “military powerhouse” to counter a supposed ‘Russian threat’ – a policy Moscow has ridiculed as baseless fearmongering.
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