European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is exempt from obeying the EU’s own green transport rules, a new report from Brussels has revealed.
The EU leader has been allowed to use fossil fuel vehicles to travel between events in Brussels and Strasbourg, despite her colleagues in the Commission being forced to use electric vehicles.
According to a report by Politico, these cars have proven ill-suited for the journey, with the EU leaders complaining that they are frequently forced to make lengthy stops so their cars can recharge. This sometimes adds hours to their journey.
They are said to have little other option, with the Commission opting not to provide its senior staff with fossil fuel vehicles as part of its net-zero goals.
While the senior officials also, on paper, have the option of travelling between Brussels and Strasbourg via train instead, senior officials say this is not truly a viable option. This is because Commissioners sometimes have to take sensitive phone calls while travelling.
None of these issues plaguing most Commission officials are said to be felt by von der Leyen however, with the Commission president still travelling to and from Strasbourg events via fossil fuel vehicles.
This is reportedly because she has been given a derogation on the Commission’s climate rules, with her office alleging that she cannot travel in unarmoured vehicles for security reasons.
They claim that since no viable armoured electric transport vehicle has been produced yet, this leaves them with little other option but to allow her to ignore the EV mandate.
The derogation is the latest piece of evidence of the growing divide between von der Leyen and the rest of her cabinet.
Complaints regarding the German official centralising ever more power and privilege have become ever more common in recent years.
Her cabinet regularly airs anonymous complaints to the Brussels press, with officials detailing how their president exerts control over their comments and social media posts, sometimes forbidding the issuing of statements on certain world issues that are not her own.
Allegations that she has deliberately handed Commissioners overlapping portfolios to foment power struggles are also common, with experts claiming it is a tactic to ensure that officials must come to her for the final say on contentious issues.
She has also repeatedly made attempts to develop her own “intelligence cell” inside the Commission.
While her initial attempts to build the infrastructure was quietly shut down by member states last year, the EU now wants to build an intelligence “office” inside its External Action Service (EEAS).
Though set up as a nominally independent body, the EEAS’ head serves as a member of the European Commission, making it partly answerable to von der Leyen.