Rivalry Between Merz and Von der Leyen to Test EU’s Leadership
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Friedrich Merz, Germany's chancellor, and Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, in Brussels on May 9.
Photographer: Simon Wohlfahrt/BloombergA rivalry between Berlin and Brussels over who calls the shots is threatening to spill into the open just as the European Union is trying to close ranks in the face of mounting challenges.
The battle for influence is pitting an increasingly assertive Friedrich Merz against EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, one of the German chancellor’s former opponents in the ranks of his country’s conservative politics.