Von der Leyen strengthens EU grip, but hawkish China agenda to be tested by EV tariffs row

First test of European Commission president’s China agenda is whether she can have her way in fiery dispute over EVs

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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is seeking support for punitive tariffs on Chinese EVs. Photo: dpa

Published: 3:02pm, 22 Sep 2024

In European Union circles, last week will be remembered for European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s consolidation of her position as the most powerful politician in Brussels.

She vanquished her rivals and pitted her new commissioners against each other in a grand reshaping of the bloc’s executive functions, blurring the lines of reportage and making clear she was the one who would be calling the shots.

In a deft piece of political chicanery, von der Leyen connived with French President Emmanuel Macron to switch out Thierry Breton – the Parisian commissioner who was her biggest internal critic in her first term – for the less flashy Stephane Sejourne, who will now oversee the bloc’s industrial policy.

Breton had publicly questioned von der Leyen’s leadership and continually placed himself in the limelight. But now – like others who challenged her during her first term – he finds himself in the political wilderness. The message was clear: if you come at the queen, you best not miss.

On China, von der Leyen signalled that the new commission’s term will mirror the back half of the last one. She will drive the EU de-risking plans full steam ahead, and economic security percolates through nearly every commissioner’s brief.

“Reading the letter of mission to commissioner-designate for trade and economic security Maros Sefcovic, it’s clear the Brussels wind is blowing in the same direction on economic foreign policy towards China, but with stronger gusts,” said Mathieu Duchatel, a policy analyst at the Institut Montaigne, a French think tank.