Media: Diplomats and officials consider quarrel between heads of EC, European Council embarassing

The froideur between Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel is hampering the union’s effectiveness, leaving the bloc flailing at a time when it needs to present a credible front on a growing list of issues from conflicts in Ukraine and Israel to trade and China, Report informs referring to Bloomberg.

All this is heightened by a rift at the top which diplomats and officials have labeled embarrassing.

When a deadly incursion hit Israel on October 7, von der Leyen was characteristically quick to act. She voiced the EU’s full backing for the country and condemned the assault by Hamas, which the EU designates a terrorist outfit. The only problem was that the EU had already hashed out a joint position, coordinated by the bloc’s top diplomat Josep Borrell.

Von der Leyen’s actions put her at odds with her colleagues over protocol and substance: many of the member states privately accused her of failing adequately to mention the humanitarian situation in Gaza, which the council position would attend to more carefully.

Behind the scenes, European diplomats were mostly united in disapproval against von der Leyen, and several officials had to mop up relations with Israel’s regional neighbors after she later made a visit to Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu, according to the people familiar with those discussions, who asked not to be named discussing sensitive matters of diplomacy.

Von der Leyen fully subscribes to the EU position as expressed in the council statement of October 15, a spokesperson for her said, while a spokesperson for Michel said he had invested significant efforts in outreach to many partners to help avoid a regional escalation, and to strengthen the EU’s image and credibility abroad.