STRASBOURG — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen faced a grilling from European Parliament lawmakers on Wednesday as backlash builds over her insistence that the EU must get stronger and be less consensus-based to survive as conflicts rage from Ukraine to Iran.
The Commission chief drew criticism earlier this week, including from within her own team of commissioners, after giving a speech to EU ambassadors warning Europe must take “a clear-eyed and hard look” at its place in the world and how it makes decisions.
Europe “can no longer be a custodian for the old world order” and should have a think about whether its focus on unanimity is a “hindrance,” von der Leyen added, in comments interpreted by some as moving away from the EU’s traditional focus on international law and seeking to consolidate power in the bloc’s executive.
European Commission Executive Vice President Teresa Ribera, who belongs to the Spanish left, said Tuesday, “I think that it is fair to say that maybe it was not the most adequate manner to express herself,” while European Council President António Costa appeared to contradict von der Leyen, insisting “power policy” cannot replace international law.
Facing pushback from her colleagues, von der Leyen dialed back her hard-boiled rhetoric in a speech Wednesday at the Parliament in Strasbourg.
“Seeing the world as it is in no way diminishes our determination to fight for the world we want,” she said, adding the EU was “founded as a peace project” and would “always uphold these principles.”
But it wasn’t enough to spare her a grilling, as MEPs from various political groups took to the podium to respond, with many scathing in their criticism of the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and von der Leyen’s take on power politics.
“No to war, yes to international law,” said Socialists & Democrats president Iratxe García. “You, Mrs von der Leyen, have said Europe cannot be a custodian of the old world order. But the problem is not whether the world order is old or new, the problem is who you allow to violate this order.”
Jordan Bardella, a French presidential contender from the far-right Patriots group, said the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran had “plunged the Middle East into a new period of instability,” while right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists co-president Nicola Procaccini said the EU needed to keep Ukraine’s struggle against Russia at the “heart” of its foreign policy.
Europe should “reaffirm its commitment to international law,” said liberal Renew chief Valérie Hayer, adding Europe must “become the number one economic and trade power in the world” to have more of a say in global affairs.
“Mrs von der Leyen, being brave means not going to war,” said Greens Vice-President Diana Riba.
Von der Leyen also said the conflict in Iran showed Europe needs to become less “vulnerable and dependent” on fossil fuel imports, adding the war had cost Europeans €3 billion in just 10 days.
“Since the beginning of this conflict, gas prices have risen by 50 percent and oil prices have risen by 27 percent,” von der Leyen said. “If you translate this in euros, the 10 days of war have already cost European taxpayers an additional €3 billion in fossil fuel imports.”
“Additional,” she stressed.
The price of a barrel of oil briefly shot past the $100 mark on Monday as the war in the Middle East — sparked by U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran — entered its second week, with no clear end in sight. The Strait of Hormuz, a vital energy artery through which 20 percent of the world’s oil is transported, remains effectively closed by Iran’s threats to shipping.
Oil and gas production in several Gulf countries has also slowed down as Iranian drones and missiles rain down on energy infrastructure.
