Opinions about him are, to say the least, divided. According to his critics, EU President Charles Michel is an incompetent, choleric and chaotic Walloon with an ego that is far too big. To his supporters, the 46-year-old Liberal is a shrewd, ambitious, loyal politician who is finally giving the EU profile on the world stage. One thing is certain: he will be re-elected by the heads of government on Thursday evening, preferably as quietly as possible.
Michel himself sometimes doubted in recent months whether the leaders would grant him a second mandate of 2.5 years. He looked nervously at The Hague, where Mark Rutte lost more and more luster in an endless cabinet formation. Would that then…? Or to Lisbon, where Prime Minister António Costa was ascribed to Brussels ambitions should he lose the election. Rutte is now at the helm of his fourth cabinet, Costa will start his third at the end of this month, so nothing to fear from that angle. Remarkably enough, no one has even raised his or her hand to succeed Michel.
His first term as ‘President of the European Council’, as his position officially reads, was the result of that surprising political raffle in the summer of 2019. Christian Democrat Ursula von der Leyen was nominated by leaders as President of the European Commission, expense of Frans Timmermans. The Social Democrats then had the second choice, but instead of the prestigious EU presidency, they opted for the position of EU foreign chief (Josep Borrell). With which the then Belgian Prime Minister Michel was able to take over the gavel from the Pole Donald Tusk.
Since taking office as EU President on December 1, 2019, Michel has chaired 62 European and other summits, 29 of which are online. The interim verdict? “The man is looking for a mission,” sneers a critic. “I’ll pay the best dinner ever to get rid of him,” a second promised. “The EU summit is the center of power in Europe, Michel leads it, committed to the compromise,” his fans say.
Belgian approach
The critics point to the lack of results. During the first EU summit that Michel chaired (December 2019), climate neutrality in 2050 was promised – a real achievement – but Poland did not commit to this. After that, the corona pandemic started, which especially brought honour, glory and notoriety to Von der Leyen with the purchase by Brussels of life-saving vaccines and the flawless introduction of the corona travel pass.
The five-day, four-night marathon summit in July 2020 – when EU leaders negotiated a new multi-year budget (1,050 billion euros) and a recovery fund (750 billion euros) – should have been Michel’s moment. But quite a few people involved are scathing about his input: Michel gave interviews on the balcony of his office while Merkel, Macron and Rutte did the work. And now there is war in Ukraine, no matter what Michel can score. French President Emmanuel Macron stole the show earlier this month with an informal summit in Versailles, Macron and Chancellor Olaf Scholz negotiate with Putin.
The critics denounce the way Michel prepares and leads the EU summits, after all, his main task. Everything at the last minute and then a long, late night meeting. A typical Belgian approach, diplomats say: delay, delay and then everyone a few beads.
What annoys Michel’s unstoppable stream of words and his constant cry for attention: with speeches, newsletters, interviews, tweets and then special booklets with ‘the best of’ speeches. “He acts like the boss of Europe,” sighs an EU official. “While he’s no more than the chairman of a meeting.” The Twitter account, Le Chou (‘Het Spruitje’), which is very well known in EU circles, likes to poke fun at Michel’s urge to assert himself.
‘Vomited’
Michel’s direct employees, but also some diplomats, are especially tired of all the criticism of the EU president. ‘Cuckolding, if I’m honest’, says one of them. In turn they portray the critics as miserable vinegar pissers, civil servants who cannot bear the fact that their ‘Brussels toy’ has been taken away by Michel. ‘They saw the EU as their project, nice and far away from the citizen. Civil servants and diplomats want manufacturability and predictability, not political interference’, an experienced EU official analyzes.
However, the development since the euro crisis (2010) has been that the heads of government are putting an increasingly heavy stamp on the EU, at the expense of the power of the European Commission and the European Parliament. ‘Leaders solve the big problems, determine the strategy. An inconvenient truth for the Brussels clique,” said the same official.
Criticism of Michel’s preparation for EU summits is brushed aside by his supporters. They point to the clubs of prime ministers he has formed – in ever-changing composition – who discuss the agenda in the run-up to a summit. This leads to understanding of each other’s point of view and prevents hassle at the EU summit itself. The video summits during the pandemic were also a way to let off steam and cry for leaders who were all outraged at home.
Diplomats argue that Michel is close to Macron, not strange for a French-speaking liberal. “But he is also available to other leaders in case of national problems,” says a diplomat. “He’s seen as a loyal soldier, not an annoying little man.”
Its mission is broader than Europe, EU officials say. Michel is remarkably active in Africa, but recently also mediated in conflicts in Georgia and Azerbaijan. During a summit last December with the eastern neighbors (including Ukraine, Moldova and Armenia), according to those present, he received ‘an ovational applause’. The geopolitical union is his mission, according to Michel’s employees. ‘As well as putting a stop to the continuous power grab from the Commission.’
sofagate
What haunts Michel is his downright miserable relationship with von der Leyen. It had been cool from the start – their weekly meeting on Monday was canceled many times, accusing each other of canceling – the temporary low and disastrous for Michel’s reputation was ‘sofagate’. During a joint visit to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last April, two chairs were ready in the reception room. Michel flopped into one seat, Erdogan in the other, giving a perplexed von der Leyen an audible ‘uhm?’ elicited. As Michel made no attempt to get up, the Commission President, visibly irritated, sat down on a sofa a little further away. The images of this incident went viral, sofagate was born.
Michel’s apologies afterwards were of no avail, von der Leyen took full advantage of the incident with a hard-hitting speech in the European Parliament: ‘I felt hurt, I felt alone,’ she said. “This happened because I’m a woman.” Recently, there was a similar incident at the EU-Africa Summit when the Ugandan Foreign Minister completely ignored von der Leyen and shook hands with only Michel and Macron. It was the French president who then politely directed the minister to von der Leyen, Michel was smiling next to him.
The relationship between the President of the Commission and that of the Council of Governments is never easy. There is an overlap between their powers under treaty law, which leads to crackling. In addition, the Commission president has money (EU budget of 160 billion per year) and more than 30,000 officials, the EU president only has his hammer and political friends.
For the first EU president Herman Van Rompuy it was the last political job of his career. He was pre-eminently the man behind the scenes and then Commission President José Barroso carefully defined his ambitions to where Berlin and Paris gave him permission. Moreover, both gentlemen were members of the same Christian Democratic family.
Their successors Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker shook a bit more, but this also applied: for Juncker it was his last major appearance, Tusk mainly looked to Poland, and both are Christian Democrats. Now the EU is full of ambition with two people: Michel not only wants a second term as EU president, but after that, he will only be 49 years old and still far from worked out. The liberal would like to continue on an international stage and that requires profile.
The Christian Democrat von der Leyen (63) shows no signs of fatigue either. Many in Brussels expect her to aspire to a second term as Commission president in 2024. The result is constant rivalry between the two ‘presidents’. “It was written in the stars,” said a Commission official. ‘They both want to shine, they stand in each other’s way. All that’s left is to throw mud, it goes from bad to worse,” says a diplomat.
Schwalbes
There is a chance that one of the leaders will discuss the sore relationship between Michel and von der Leyen on Thursday. But it won’t stand in the way of Michel’s reappointment. His liberal friends Rutte and Macron are behind him, the rest appreciate that as a former prime minister he understands their position at home. “And don’t forget: Prime Ministers and Presidents act like stars in the field, including Schwalbes. Michel as a referee is a welcome target for criticism,” said a diplomat.
Government leaders have enough on their minds these days, says the diplomat. Extra nagging with the search for a new EU president can be stolen. ‘The home front comes first. An EU summit with Michel is just a bimonthly beep on their radar.’