Goverment-close think-tank slammed the von der Leyen-presidency

The European Commission presidency of Ursula von der Leyen has been marked by “a series of failures and dissatisfaction”, according to the Századvég think-tank.

Szazadvég’s Europe Project, research covering 2023 and 2024, assessed European public opinion regarding Ursula von der Leyen and the commission’s performance.

In a press release on Friday, the think-tank noted that von der Leyen, backed by the European People’s Party (EPP), was on track to retain her office, enjoying the support of the majority of European leaders.

Its research shows public dissatisfaction with the commission’s response to recent crises and views of von der Leyen “and the Brussels bureaucracy” among European citizens were “clearly negative”.

In 2023, 77 percent of respondents expressing an opinion had a poor opinion of the commission, while this year 55 percent had negative opinion of von der Leyen, the research shows.

When it comes to migration, 63 percent expressed dissatisfaction, while on the issue of attempts by the commission to address inflation and energy prices, 63 percent had a negative opinion of the body, with 64 percent perceiving the energy crisis as partly the result of a bad energy policy pursued by the commission.

Meanwhile, Századvég said that the European public considered that EU institutions failed to represent the interests of the individual member states, with 52 percent saying that EU institutions “and the political elite in Brussels” ignored the interests of their country, MTI wrote.

Századvég is a government-close think-tank.

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