Serious setback for Ursula von der Leyen. This Thursday, April 11, MEPs asked the European Commission to abandon the controversial recruitment of German conservative MEP Markus Pieper for a highly paid position, due to suspicions of favoritism.
They majority approved an amendment calling for annulling the appointment and launching a new procedure. This vote is not binding but politically weakens Ursula von der Leyen, head of the EPP conservative list, two months before the European elections. “Big majority for our amendment!”, welcomed on its author, the German environmentalist MEP Daniel Freund.
The affair, which has agitated Brussels political circles for several days, concerns the appointment on January 31 by the European Commission of an envoy in charge of small and medium-sized businesses, a highly paid senior advisor position. This post was awarded to German MEP from the European People’s Party (EPP, right) Markus Pieper, a few weeks before a congress in Bucharest at the beginning of March during which the EPP group gave its support to a second term for Ursula von der Leyen , herself from conservative ranks.
Remuneration of 18,430 euros gross per month
“We have coaxed a European MP among the biggest detractors of Ursula von der Leyen” within the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the German pillar of the EPP, of which she is a member, denounced Daniel Freund. The EPP tried to thwart this vote by attempting at the last minute to table an amendment supporting this nomination and Ursula von der Leyen. In vain, the majority of MEPs opposed it.
Markus Pieper signed his contract on Sunday March 31 and was due to take up his new role on April 16 for a four-year term. The grade 15 position, one of the highest in the European hierarchy, should earn him remuneration of 18,430 euros gross per month, according to the official scale.