Ursula Von Der Leyen – Finally a Truly Political Commission ?

In substance, the 16th of July speech is anything but a patchwork of circumstances. Each of his accents reflects a personal commitment of Ursula von der Leyen during her political career. Starting with the question of demography, undoubtedly one of the greatest challenges for Europe, remarkably absent from Brussels’ agenda until the arrival of this former Minister for Family Affairs who broke one of the strongest taboos in her country by introducing parental leave. Referring to "regions in Europe in which schools, hospitals or companies are having to close down, we are all feeling the concrete effects of demographic change", Ursula von der Leyen talks about the German situation, but her speech will find a powerful echo in the regions of Central and Eastern Europe hit by 25 years of massive emigration, as well as in all the "empty diagonals" of the European space, which, as they watch the trains of metropolitan growth pass by, understand that they have no future. The project is immense, and raises the question of reforming the structural funds to respond to new forms of territorial imbalance.
 
"The fight for fairness never stops": the social highlights of Ursula von der Leyen's speech are of course intended to heal social democratic wounds. However they are at the same time in line with the soziale Marktwirtschaft dear to the Germans ("It's not people that serve the economy. It's the economy that serves our people."), as well as with the personal struggle led by someone who was Minister of Labour of the main European economy from 2009 to 2013. From quotas for women on boards of directors to the additional retirement plan for the most modest, she did not win all her battles, but led them with audacity, even challenging Angela Merkel herself. It is not certain that the political courage is sufficient to allow "work to pay off" everywhere in Europe, but we can certainly expect concrete initiatives in this field.
 
The defense of this European social model is not only a question of economic policy, but also of international policy. The reference to "those who are buying their global influence and creating dependencies by investing in ports and roads" shows that the new President of the Commission is ready to continue the realistic shift initiated by the outgoing team on China's issue, from partner and competitor to "systemic rival". Undoubtedly, after five years at the heart of sovereign missions as Minister of Defense, at the forefront of the German pacifism’s power, Ursula von der Leyen will make the European Union's foreign policy a priority.

In front of the MEPs, Ursula von der Leyen therefore claims to embody a European political body, and thus to combine an "I" that draws its strength from this coherence ("I will stand for..."), and this "we" that Europe still lacks: "None of these options are for us", "We want multilateralism, we want fair trade", "we have to do it the European way", "if we are to go down the European path"... Five years ago, in the same exercise, Jean-Claude Juncker's "we" was very different: "On 25 May (2014), the voters of Europe spoke to us. They sent us powerful, if sometimes contradictory, messages. Today, and in the years to come, we have to respond." The "we" in question here is the "we" of the European institutions, the "we" of the Brussels bubble.

The speech is centred on this closed universe, of which the European citizen is the reference that is constantly invoked, but also the helpless spectator. "Let us not try the public's patience by indulging in institutional debates which prevent us from focusing on what really matters - the people of Europe", had said Jean-Claude Juncker, who nevertheless devoted the whole beginning of his general policy speech to the Spitzenkandidat system, and the relative powers of Parliament, the European Council and the Commission... "The Commission is political. And I want it to be more political. Indeed, it will be highly political.": Jean-Claude Juncker had said it, yet we are still waiting. Will Ursula von der Leyen make it happen?
 
Something, in any case, is happening in Europe, and mostly outside the Brussels bubble. The rebound in the turnout for the May European elections, from 42.6 to 51%, almost everywhere in Europe, was already a sign that something was happening in this emerging political space. Today, the political upheavals in Italy, where the majority is torn around Cinque Stelle's support for the new President of the Commission, are also a sign of this new reality that is emerging: Brussels is becoming a political place, a place where a European "we" is developing, a place that political passions are beginning to invest. Macron, but also Salvini and Orbán had something to do with it. So did Angela Merkel, who, through Ursula von der Leyen, offers Europe a political programme, while shaping the future of her own party, on the way to an alliance with the Greens. Could it be that we will be passionate about Brussels politics in the next five years? And could it be that, in order to take action, we are finally sending there the best of "us"?

Copyright : LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP