CDU politician Markus Pieper is giving up a top job in the EU Commission after severe criticism. The matter is also explosive for boss Ursula von der Leyen. Did she sacrifice a party friend?
Ursula von der Leyen suffered a serious political defeat in the middle of the election campaign for a second term as President of the EU Commission.
After allegations of favoritism, the CDU politician had to announce that her party colleague Markus Pieper was not taking over the position of the EU Commission’s representative for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as planned. The long-time MEP from Münsterland was actually supposed to take up the position this Tuesday with a basic monthly salary of more than 18,000 euros.
Pieper himself justified his resignation by saying that he probably would not have been able to carry out the job properly for months because of a party-political campaign against him. “I would have found myself in a hopeless situation around the responsible commissioner, Thierry Breton,” he told the German Press Agency. However, he does not rule out a second chance for the position.
Pieper accuses critics of bad style
The European Parliament had previously asked the EU Commission to reverse Pieper’s appointment because of suspicions of favoritism. A motion for this drawn up by the Greens, Social Democrats and Liberals was approved with a large majority in the plenary session on Thursday. There had already been criticism from EU Commissioners from the Social Democrats and Liberals camp – in particular from Breton, the head of department responsible for the internal market.
Above all, Pieper cited the Frenchman’s resistance as the reason for his withdrawal. “Just as Breton boycotted my taking office within the Commission in advance, I currently see no possibility of fulfilling the legitimate expectations associated with the office,” said the 60-year-old to the “Handelsblatt”. The fact that the commissioner responsible for small and medium-sized businesses and reducing bureaucracy was questioning the procedure was “bad form and solely motivated by party politics.”
Accusation of nepotism
The MEPs cited doubts as to whether “the principles of performance, gender balance and geographical balance” had been taken into account when Pieper was appointed. The Commission President was indirectly accused of having specifically chosen a party friend in Pieper. The motion also called on the Commission to initiate “a truly transparent and open process” for the selection of the commissioner.
The background to the allegations is, among other things, that in the initial phase of the application process two applicants from Sweden and the Czech Republic were rated better than Pieper. The CDU politician, who has been a member of the European Parliament since 2004, only prevailed in the selection interviews.
However, von der Leyen’s employees have repeatedly pointed out in recent weeks that it is completely normal in the application process for candidates who did particularly well in the first round of tests not to be successful in the end. All rules were followed during the selection process.
New selection process only in months
A spokesman for von der Leyen said that the president regretted Pieper’s decision not to take up the position as SME representative on April 16 as planned. He emphasized once again that the MEP was a proven expert for SMEs who had prevailed in a multi-stage selection process. According to the information, there will now be a new edition of the selection process to fill the position – but only after the European elections in June.
Pieper said he would not rule out applying for the position again. After his appointment, he gave up a promising place on the list for the European elections and will therefore leave the European Parliament after the election.
For weeks, Christian Democrats have seen the criticism of Pieper’s appointment as a political campaign against von der Leyen, who wants to be reappointed as EU Commission President after the European elections in June. This is also supported by the fact that EU commissioners from the ranks of the critical party families did not take advantage of the opportunity to object in the internal authority procedure, it is said.
It remains unclear why von der Leyen had Pieper turn down the position. Commission circles said there was a risk that political opponents would further escalate the matter during the election campaign.
Medium-sized business representatives describe von der Leyen as the wrong choice
The Federal Association of Medium-Sized Businesses (BVMW) nevertheless expressed scathing criticism of von der Leyen on Tuesday, describing her as a “serious miscast” and “poison for German medium-sized businesses.”
“Markus Pieper would have been an experienced coordinator for issues relevant to medium-sized businesses. But Ms. von der Leyen once again had other things on her agenda than advocating for this,” commented the chairman of the federal management, Christoph Ahlhaus, who, like Pieper and von der Leyen, is CDU- is a member.
