Merz vs von der Leyen: Germany's power couple under summer strain

Euractiv

5 days ago

BERLIN – At about half past nine on Brussels' big-budget-reveal day in July, a late‑night missive landed in the inboxes of Berlin's political correspondents.
In exactly 100 words, the German government's chief spokesperson, Stefan Kornelius, laid into the €2 trillion proposal for the EU's next seven-year financial framework (MFF) spending plan, which European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had unveiled earlier that day.
The plan to increase the long-term budget by nearly two‑thirds was 'not sellable" in times of budget consolidation, he wrote, adding that Germany would also "not support" burdening businesses with a proposed EU-wide corporate levy. In sum: Berlin "won't be able to accept the Commission's proposal."
Afterwards, even some of Friedrich Merz's allies were surprised by the harsh language that his team directed at the plans of von der Leyen, a German Christian Democrat, just like the chancellor.
It was the clearest indication in recent weeks that Merz is annoyed with what he sees as Brussels' tone-deafness, particularly on deregulation and competitiveness, as conversations with more than half a dozen officials briefed on the matter suggest.
It also highlighted that conflicts of interest between the power couple atop the Commission and the largest EU member state are starting to come to the fore.
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A trusting trio?
Regarding the MFF, one senior German government official grouched that von der Leyen should have known that an increase in the budget and a new corporate levy were non‑starters in Berlin, suggesting that her maximalist bid had provoked a due reaction.
Notably, several sources said that von der Leyen had not shared the controversial parts of the proposal with Berlin in advance, perhaps knowing they would be rejected.
That casts a shadow on what has been portrayed as close coordination between Merz and the Commission president. By one account, the two leaders had been in touch most weekends for the last two years, despite von der Leyen's closeness to ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel, a key Merz rival.
Ahead of the German elections in February, Merz vowed repeatedly to restore Berlin's leadership in Europe and clear obstacles to economic growth that he blamed on Brussels.
His mission should have been aided by the German centre-right axis that also comprises Manfred Weber, the Bavarian head of the European Parliament's biggest group, the EPP.
And in the run-up to February's election, both sides played along.
When von der Leyen needed Merz's backing to secure the EPP's lead candidacy in the 2024 European elections, she began echoing his mantra: less micro‑rulemaking, more grand direction.
On the campaign trail in Germany, she smiled along, in turn, when Merz committed her to an EPP paper on cutting bureaucracy, which targeted some of her first-term policies.
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The EPP's messaging is clear that the CDU will return in the driver's seat, if Merz becomes Germany's chancellor.
Venting in Valencia
The EPP congress in spring had already foreshadowed that Merz would be a demanding partner for von der Leyen and her Commission, however.
In his address in Valencia, Merz offered scant praise for their record. Instead, he blamed Brussels for 'annoying people with fixed bottle caps," promised to revisit green rules that are part of von der Leyen's first-term legacy, and railed against tougher safety tests for private vehicles.
Delegates shouted 'Bravo!' – but the Commission president looked less pleased.
While she spared some applause, her arms remained otherwise crossed in her lap, with her lips pressed together. The body language suggested she was 'about to explode," one EPP official remarked, though some others did not share the impression.
'Von der Leyen doesn't like it when people get hung up on small things like the bottle caps,' the official said.
Brussels bureaucracy...
Judging by the communication in the office, Merz and his administration appear to have seen their worst fears about the EU institutions confirmed.
Officials in Berlin are annoyed that the Merz camp is forced to publicly fight what they regard as an incessant flow of misguided policies, which – not least – make for bad publicity.
Early rumours about the controversial budget plans were seen as so detached from reality – and the fiscal constraints of most European countries – that some officials initially didn't believe them.
But Merz also bristled at recent reports that the Commission was weighing rules to require newly purchased rental and company cars to be fully electric from 2030.
'The proposals (…) completely ignore the needs that we currently have in Europe,' he thundered two weeks ago. 'These proposals aren't right.'
Days earlier, a letter from Merz to von der Leyen had surfaced expressing 'great concern' about the EU's Deforestation Regulation, which would impose new reporting duties, even on products from tightly regulated German forests.
Exemptions for 'zero‑risk countries' like Germany would be 'an important contribution to dismantling bureaucracy," Merz urged.
Unlike other leaders, he was notably pleased about the outcome of tariff negotiations with the US, amounting to a 15% surcharge on EU exports. But that came only after he vocally criticised that the Commission's negotiation goals were "way too complicated" and broad in the beginning.
...or Merz's madness?
Brussels officials, for their part, view much of this as a Merz problem.
There appeared to be a wider consensus among EU officials that the German government was belatedly discovering that the bloc is more complicated to handle than it imagined and not easily bent to Berlin's will, one well‑placed official said.
Being in government was a reality check for Merz's entire agenda, the EPP official suggested.
Still, both sides distinguish Merz's personal relationship with von der Leyen – described as respectful and aligned on policy goals – from his quarrel with the broader Commission machinery.
That may well be spin. Either way, amid the growing divide between the Commission and Berlin on key policy fronts, the personal relationship between the chancellor and the president could prove largely irrelevant.
The coming two years, Merz said a day after the budget presentation, "will be a tough battle'.
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