“With their nominations for the four senior EU roles, the Council of the heads of government of the EU member states, with Angela Merkel leading the way, did the EU a disservice and casually dropped the principle of appointing only the top candidate of a parliamentary group,”, says Martin Schirdewan, interim group chairman of DIE LINKE in the EP.
Press release by MEP Martin Schirdewan (DIE LINKE), Strasbourg, July 2, 2019;
Schirdewan continues, “As the potential future President of the European Commission, Von der Leyen doesn’t have much experience with the EU. As the incumbent German Minister of Defence, she is already under harsh criticism for her horrendously expensive consultancy contracts, the exorbitant costs of the Gorch Fock ship restoration project and the terrible condition the German armed forces are in. Rewarding her for that by asking her to lead the European Commission is a completely wrong signal and equals a slap in the voters’ face. Merkel might have won her last power game, but in turn has brought to light the democratic deficit of the EU and deepened the institutional and political crisis.”