EU at a turning point; Will Ursula "survive"?

As Politico writes, some of them want to remove her from office. It is never good to wage a war on multiple fronts, but the president of the EC, who has been in that position since 2019, has no alternative, since danger lurks from all sides.

It’s not just about the vote of confidence she faces this week in the European Parliament, Politico argues, but also about those who feel betrayed and threaten her in more subtle ways — people who have gone from being her friends to becoming her enemies, whose high standards she could never meet, and perhaps never even intended to. On the other hand, most of these opposing groups disagree among themselves, which means her enemies are divided — and that works in her favor, the portal explains.

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In the first group of those most disappointed with von der Leyen since the start of her second term in December are environmental and climate activists. While the Green Agenda — aimed at reducing harmful gas emissions, improving biodiversity, and transitioning to renewable energy — was the leading initiative of the previous European Commission, that focus has shifted significantly since last year’s European elections.

Environmental activists fear that the new proposed EC measures will undo the progress achieved so far in the fight against climate change, and the Commission is increasingly reluctant to propose and implement regulations in favor of the Green Agenda. This category of opponents worries Von der Leyen because she still needs their support in order to pass some regulations, although their influence has declined significantly after the 2024 European elections, according to Politico.

Then, there are more and more members of the European Parliament who enjoy challenging every move of the EC President, which is actually one of the pillars of their political campaign. We are talking about members of the extreme right and extreme left, of whom there are more in the ranks of the EP than ever before. Groups belonging to these directions have launched an initiative to vote on the confidence of von der Leyen.

• "The Queen of Europe" strikes back — again

Across the European continent, there is a growing number of anti-European forces that are either in power or serve as a loud opposition — and these politicians know that making noise is half the battle won. As Politico writes, they give her a headache not because they hold enough seats in the European Parliament to block her ideas, but because they dominate the narrative and bring chaos to every debate. For every European Commission regulatory document, they respond with a 10-second viral clip that cancels out the Commission’s message — and travels ten times faster on social media. They loudly proclaim that “von der Leyen is the incarnation of the devil, and her Commission only makes people’s lives miserable,” while what they really mean is: “Long live Ursula — if she didn’t exist, we’d have to invent her.”

In the third group of her opponents are friends who stab her in the back — namely, some members of the center-right European People’s Party, the largest political family with members from all 27 EU countries, at the top of which sits Ursula von der Leyen.

Because of some key issues, this party is divided, and internal conflicts sometimes lead to that group as a whole, or individually, coming into conflict with the president of the EC. Such is the case with the tougher measures against Israel she announced in September, as well as her plans for the next seven-year EU budget and climate neutrality targets by 2040.

Finally, there are the real power holders who set the agenda and brought Von der Leyen into office, and they are also the heads of government of the 27 member states of the Union. Until recently, only the leaders of Hungary and Slovakia criticized the Commission, but that group is expanding, and even those whom von der Leyen could once count on as support, such as German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, have joined it.