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In today’s edition
- Frustrated Journalists: My colleagues and I are getting tired of the EU’s information game. Efforts to be transparent leave journalists annoyed when there is little to report.
- Bits of the Week: Firstly, we are far from a new EU executive as the parliamentary hearings keep changing. Secondly, Draghi seems to be preparing member states and EU lawmakers for tough recommendations when his report is set to be published next week.
Journalists and citizens are left in the dark as the halls of the Berlaymont whisper little about the EU’s next collective leadership. But could this secrecy be more of a deliberate design than a flaw in the European system?
As a politics journalist in Brussels, some things have become integral to my daily life. Beyond the fact that the kind people in Exki have my flat white ready by the time I pick up my croissant and reach the counter, going to the Commission's midday press briefing is a permanent to-do.
But this Monday at noon, things were different in the Berlaymont. As usual, the spokesperson took the floor, made a few announcements, and moved on to questions from the floor.
As usual, journalists wanted to know how the new Commission was taking shape and how von der Leyen felt about the lack of women candidates.
As usual, the spokesperson was reluctant to give any details, citing the lack of female candidates. But unlike before, the journalists did not back down.
"This whole press conference could have been a tweet," exclaimed one colleague. "Why are we even doing this?" asked another. For an otherwise rather dull lunchtime briefing, things almost got quite heated.
I share the frustrations. Von der Leyen’s negotiations with member states are kept behind closed doors – and the back-room deals being made will maybe never see the light of day. Is this the European brand of democratic accountability we want?
France burns through candidates
At the same time, the HR policy is almost nowhere completely transparent.
While the EU may appear to be playing its cards close to its chest, a list of now-dumped prime ministerial candidates can attest to the downsides of the French system.
In recent weeks, French President Macron has been publicly burning through potential prime ministerial candidates. Over the weekend, Thierry Beaudet appeared to be a possible compromise candidate. By Monday, his stock had tanked, and his candidacy was all but over. On Thursday (5 September), former EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier was finally appointed prime minister – his name came up at the last moment.
While the EU's process is far from perfect, its lack of transparency may be a feature of stability rather than an exclusionary flaw. By contrast, the EU's tightly controlled method, even if slow, prevents the spectacle of public failure and ensures that delicate political dynamics are handled behind closed doors, where the stakes are too high for public theatre.
The EU is built for speed. The treaties are quite meticulous about who should do what and when after EU elections - paving the way for a quick succession of power. But as the frustration of journalists on Monday shows, this rarely happens.
Soon, lawmakers in the European Parliament will have their chance to go through the list of commission-designates. In 2019, both the initial French, Hungarian and Romanian nominees bore firsthand witness to a different, more open part of the procedure. The very public downfall of the commissioner-designates suggests a more transparent process.
