EU

Socialist challenger slams von der Leyen’s aloof management style

Nicolas Schmit is ramping up criticism of his boss as the EU election nears.

Jobs Commissioner Nicolas Schmit has criticized European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for not involving commissioners enough in decision-making. | Sean Gallup/Getty Images

MAY 30, 2024 7
BY GIORGIO LEALI

PARIS — The lead socialist candidate in next week’s EU election — Jobs Commissioner Nicolas Schmit — has criticized European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for not involving commissioners enough in decision-making.

Over her five-year tenure, von der Leyen has often faced accusations of not consulting with the commissioners, but instead working with a close côterie of advisers. This go-it-alone approach has landed her in hot water with prosecutors who are looking into her disappearing text messages over major coronavirus vaccines contracts.

“I think collegiality is important, political debate is important, we are politicians, we are not super-technocrats who are there to manage their own affairs,” Schmit told a group of reporters over lunch at a Parisian restaurant on Thursday.

Schmit’s criticism is a sign that the election is entering the final stretch as he has so far proved somewhat reluctant to unleash against his boss.

During the lunch, someone mentioned POLITICO’s story that he’s not a serious rival to von der Leyen. Schmit answered: “I think they [POLITICO] had the evidence that this is not the case at all.”

The Luxembourgish socialist previously criticized von der Leyen for concluding a deal with Tunisia to curb migration to the EU — saying it was an arrangement with a “nasty dictatorship.”

“I made that criticism for example in a particular case that is very political by essence as it concerns migration and relations with a country, with a region,” he added on Thursday.

“I am not convinced by the method, and I will have a different one,” he said.

Over the past months, von der Leyen has been increasingly under the fire of other EU commissioners as a sign that pre-election tensions were mounting. In particular, she faced criticism for appointing as a representative for small business an MEP belonging to her German conservative party, despite other candidates performing better in the selection process.

Message to Macron

Schmit, who holds the commission’s jobs and social rights portfolio, also criticized von der Leyen’s party, the EPP, which is set to come first in the election.

He attacked the EPP for constantly complaining about an excess of rules at the EU level despite having played a large role making them.

“You govern for 20 years, you have the [Commission] presidency and the biggest group at the parliament, and then you discover that there is too much regulation,” he said. “There has been 20 years of EPP presidency. It seems to me that they let [over-regulation] happen, and now they suddenly discover it, they make it their first priority and they try to put the problem on us.”

But the socialist commissioner also had some criticism for French President Emmanuel Macron’s call for a “regulatory break” on EU environmental rules.

“I am a bit confused because there was a sort of idea, shared by the EPP, that we now need to slow down the pace, we need a regulatory break. If that’s the case, there’s a fundamental difference [of views with the French government],” Schmit said, adding he was looking forward to hearing more from French PM Gabriel Attal on France’s position on green files.