№175: The Von der Leyen Commission: Searching for Balance in Europe
№175: The Von der Leyen Commission: Searching for Balance in Europe

Author(s): Marta Makowska, Melchior Szczepanik, Jolanta Szymańska
Subject(s): Governance, International relations/trade, EU-Accession / EU-DEvelopment, Geopolitics
Published by: PISM Polski Instytut Spraw Międzynarodowych
Keywords: European Union; Ursula von der Leyen; European Commission; geopolitics; EU’s role in world; political balance;
Summary/Abstract: In the increasingly politically fragmented Union, the new European Commission (EC) led by Ursula von der Leyen will be a more collegial institution, as the president finds herself obliged to share power with a trio of influential executive vice-presidents. Seeking to cement the initially fragile support for her, she built a team of commissioners with the aim of maintaining a balance in terms of the political influence of various actors and the approach to policies. With the call for a “geopolitical Commission”, she aimed to unite the bloc around the objective of boosting the EU’s role in the world. Von der Leyen’s success will depend on her ability to translate the general political balance into concrete proposals that will bridge the internal divides.

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