Ursula von der Leyen is making a grab for more power over European foreign policy. For Europe’s sake, she should not get it.
Von der Leyen’s foreign policy power grab
Ursula von der Leyen used a speech to European Union ambassadors yesterday to call for the EU to project its power more assertively and to put security at the heart of all its activities. Asserting that “the threats we face come from all directions and all domains”, she said the surge in defence spending to €800 billion by 2030 was not enough.
“In all our assets and policies, we must mainstream security considerations. In fact, security must become the organising principle of our action. This must be the default mindset – from defence to data, from industry to infrastructure, from tech to trade,” she said.
Von der Leyen said Europe could no longer be “a custodian for the old-world order” and could no longer rely on the rules-based system as the only way to defend its interests. She did not clarify whether this meant that the EU could ignore the rules if they conflicted with its interests but in her remarks on the war in Iran, she declined to criticise the US and Israeli action or to suggest it was in breach of international law.
“You will hear different views about whether the conflict in Iran is a war of choice or a war of necessity. But I believe this debate partly misses the point. Because Europe must focus on the reality of the situation, to see the world as it actually is today. I want to be clear: there should be no tears shed for the Iranian regime that has inflicted death and imposed repression on its own people,” she said.
Von der Leyen became commission president in 2019 following an undistinguished ministerial career in Berlin that culminated in a stint as German defence minister that was broadly judged to have been a disaster. But she has been remarkably adroit in consolidating power around herself in Brussels, turning her fellow commissioners into a well-drilled chorus and outmanoeuvring the European Council and Parliament in most inter-institutional tussles.
Von der Leyen has adopted a higher profile on foreign policy than her predecessors, often taking positions that have not been agreed with the member states, as she did when she offered Binyamin Netanyahu the EU’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza. She has been at it again over the war in Iran, appearing to endorse regime change last week when she called for a “credible transition” in Tehran.
Von der Leyen has no authority to determine the EU’s foreign policy, which is supposed to be articulated by the high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, who reports to EU leaders in the European Council as well as to the commission. But that position is held by Kaja Kallas, whose diplomatic skills are such that neither US secretary of state Marco Rubio nor Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi will meet her.
Rubio stopped engaging with Kallas because she kept repeating the same talking points about Ukraine and Wang has refused to meet her since she leaked details of one of their conversations to the media. She runs an unhappy ship at the European external action service (EEAS), where officials complain she depends on a small coterie of personal advisers rather than drawing on the expertise of her diplomats.
While von der Leyen demands an end to national vetoes over EU foreign policy decisions and is seeking more influence through a new European security strategy, Europe’s global position has diminished under her leadership. Last year’s humiliating trade agreement with Donald Trump reflects a transatlantic relationship more lopsided than ever; six years of belligerence towards Beijing has seen the EU’s trade deficit with China widen; and despite all of Europe’s efforts in Ukraine, it has no seat at the table where an end to the conflict is being negotiated.
Ernest Satow famously defined diplomacy as the application of intelligence and tact to the conduct of official relations between governments. The EU’s current approach to foreign affairs shows little evidence of either.
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