Charles Michel: EU Commission rejects allegations after SPIEGEL interview

THE MIRROR Charles Michel: EU Commission rejects allegations after SPIEGEL interview Article by Anna-Sophie Schneider • 5 hours In an interview with SPIEGEL, Charles Michel criticized Ursula von der Leyen's foreign policy initiatives. The Commission reacts angrily - and is irritated by statements about Ukraine's early accession. Charles Michel: EU Commission rejects allegations after SPIEGEL interview The EU Commission reacts sniffily to a SPIEGEL interview by Charles Michel. The EU Council President accused Commission boss Ursula von der Leyen of exceeding her foreign policy authority. A spokeswoman for the commission, Arianna Podestá, has now rejected the allegations. "These statements by the Council President are partly inaccurate," she said in a press conference at midday. A few hours earlier, SPIEGEL had published the interview with Michel. In it, the Belgian commented, among other things, on the distribution of roles within the EU. According to Michel, he has a prominent foreign policy role as President of the European Council. "The European Council decides on the strategic direction, the Commission takes care of implementation," he said in an interview with SPIEGEL. However, sometimes there are problems. As an example of von der Leyen's overstepping of authority, he cited the migration agreement with Tunisia, which the Commission President recently announced together with the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and the Italian Giorgia Meloni. According to Michel's criticism, the EU Council was left out of the decision. The Commission spokeswoman not only described the statement as partly false, she also said that the statement would in no way strengthen the EU's ability to act on the difficult migration issue. The Commission has been negotiating the declaration of intent since the beginning of the summer and has repeatedly reported to the ambassadors of the member states about the most important points and progress in the negotiations, the spokeswoman said. "The Commission has the full political support of the European Council, including in its conclusions of June 2023, and is making practical and effective progress in combating illegal migration." In addition, the Commission is legally free to negotiate agreements that are not binding under international law, such as the joint memorandum with Tunisia. After the memorandum of understanding with Tunisia was concluded, several heads of government expressly praised the result and encouraged the Commission to conclude further agreements in this direction. The Commission points out that even the legal service of the EU Council did not see any legal problems with the declaration of intent. In von der Leyen's house, Michel's other statements were also met with astonishment - including the description of his own role in dealing with the pandemic and the rapid sanctions against Russia. It was said that Michel personally had no part in either. Power struggle in Brussels People are also irritated by the fact that, on the one hand, Michel accuses the Commission of exceeding its competences, but he himself is exceeding his competences by offering Ukraine the prospect of accession by 2030 - which is in no way covered by the accession rules. There has already been a sometimes bizarre power struggle between von der Leyen and Michel in the past. The conflict becomes clear again and again, especially in foreign policy. In 2021, the dispute took on embarrassing features. At that time they both visited Turkey together. While Michel was allowed to sit on a chair next to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, von der Leyen was relegated to the couch - as was the then Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu. The fact that von der Leyen was treated as “number two” initially caused criticism of the Turkish hosts. However, they rejected the allegations: it was Michel's protocol service that discussed the details of the visit with the Turkish government. The incident became known as “Sofagate” and is unlikely to have significantly improved the relationship between the two EU politicians.