The debate reflects a wider shift in how Brussels manages money. While traditional cohesion funds have been managed jointly by EU governments and regions, during the pandemic the bloc moved to a more centralized model, with national recovery plans negotiated directly between capitals and the Commission.
That model showed the EU could move money faster when spending decisions were controlled more tightly from Brussels, the officials said, adding that the same logic is now shaping talks on the bloc’s next long-term budget.
Von der Leyen has pushed to steer more EU money toward defense and competitiveness. Under two restructuring scenarios now circulating in Brussels, she would gain tighter control over major spending programs, officials said.
One option is the creation of a new super-department, informally dubbed DG INVEST, that would oversee regional and social funds as well as the future competitiveness fund, four officials said.
Such a move would give von der Leyen a chance to reshape a major part of the Commission around her own priorities, one of the officials said: “If you build a structure from scratch, you shape it in your own image.”
A second option would stop short of scrapping DG REGIO outright, given its history and political weight. Instead, it could be merged with the Reform and Investment Task Force, known as SG REFORM, three officials said. SG REFORM manages the EU’s Covid recovery funds and already sits close to von der Leyen through the Secretariat-General.