Ursula von der Leyen is attempting to bolster her position with a distinctive 'team-building' meeting. According to internal sources, the President of the European Commission has called upon the European commissioners to address rising tensions and enhance their working methods.

The idea for the meeting arose from frustrations over tense debates among commissioners and the repeated late arrival of documents for high-ranking officials, according to Commission officials. Politico spoke with staff from eight different commissioners’ cabinets, who indicated that several events led to Ursula von der Leyen urgently calling for a meeting scheduled for February 4 in Leuven. According to a Commission official involved in organizing the event, it is open to all members, although attendance is not mandatory.

The urgent convening of the meeting was triggered, according to four Commission officials, by a tense debate in early December, during which Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen confronted Executive Vice-President Teresa Ribera at a meeting of the college of commissioners, as reported by Brussels Playbook.

No commissioner commented on the incident, but one official noted that Jørgensen spoke more forcefully when challenging Ribera, while another suggested that the Danish commissioner expressed himself „unusually strongly compared to the usual standards of the Commission” when discussing an important environmental issue.

One of those who spoke to Politico mentioned that it is not unusual for commissioners to meet at the beginning of the year; indeed, this has been standard practice since 2010. However, this meeting is specifically aimed at finding better working methods and addressing differences of opinion among commissioners.

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Pressure Mounts Around von der Leyen

There have been several complaints recently regarding Ursula von der Leyen’s working methods. Many have pointed out that documents often arrive just hours before meetings, frequently late at night, on weekends, or the evening before legal proposals are presented.

„This prevents us from doing our jobs professionally,” said one official. „Of course, there are emergencies, but this cannot be the norm,” they added.

The peak of this issue was last July’s presentation of the EU’s long-term budget plan, when the official figures were reportedly shared with commissioners only a few hours before the presentation.

Officials close to von der Leyen’s cabinet argued that the late arrival of budget data was justified, as it prevented information leaks. However, this approach only deepened tensions within the body.

The manner in which the meeting was called and its designation also suggest that it is not a regular meeting, while several individuals are trying to maintain appearances. One official referred to the gathering as „negotiations” rather than an official „team-building” exercise, while another described it as a „working group on working methods.”

Although the focus of the meeting is on competitiveness, and it will feature a special guest—Kristalina Georgieva, the Managing Director of the IMF and a former Vice-President of the Commission—the agenda also includes discussions on „geopolitics and the working methods of the European Commission in the current context,” as stated by Arianna Podestá, the Commission’s Deputy Spokesperson, to Politico.

The „13th Floor” Makes Decisions Alone

„There is much more internal fighting than one might think,” said a Commission official.

These tensions partly reflect genuine differences of opinion and are also exacerbated by the centralizing power of the Commission President. Many decisions require approval from the 13th floor of the Berlaymont, the headquarters of von der Leyen’s cabinet.

„The current mode of operation creates situations that could be avoided and problems that do not even exist,” remarked another official.

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