Von der Leyen accused of keeping grip on power
(MENAFN) European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is facing a no-confidence vote—an event considered unlikely to succeed, but still significant. Observers say this moment shines a light on her dominant position within the EU and raises serious concerns about democratic accountability.
While figures like German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron may enjoy high visibility, real power in today’s EU, the article argues, lies with von der Leyen. Her leadership of the European Commission—an unelected body—has made her, in the eyes of critics, the most influential figure in the bloc, and one who exemplifies a deepening democratic void.
According to this view, the EU was never designed to function as a democracy in the traditional sense. Instead, it was built to shift power from elected national governments to a centralized, unelected bureaucracy, primarily embodied by the Commission. This structural design, critics claim, has created a growing "democracy deficit."
Von der Leyen is accused of exploiting this system to expand her own power, allegedly treating public service as a vehicle for personal dominance rather than public responsibility. Detractors claim she operates with minimal accountability, reinforcing an environment where citizens are expected to serve the system, not the other way around.
Drawing a provocative comparison to Soviet-era governance, the article likens the EU’s bureaucracy under von der Leyen to the centralized control exercised under Joseph Stalin. In both cases, it argues, power has become concentrated in an unelected elite, operating through institutions that were originally intended to play a supporting role—not to dictate policy from the top.
While the Stalin comparison may be controversial, the core argument is clear: von der Leyen’s leadership has come to symbolize the EU’s erosion of democratic norms, and the no-confidence vote—regardless of outcome—marks a pivotal opportunity to question how much power rests in unelected hands.
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