While von der Leyen has made many proposals to boost EU defense, this remains a core part of national governments’ individual powers. The bloc’s biggest countries don’t want the Commission to take away their authority. Smaller countries are more sanguine, particularly those in the East, because they feel more vulnerable to the Russian threat.
Costa wanted to show that he, too, could play a leadership part, two diplomats said. Up until now he’s played mainly a supporting role, leaving von der Leyen to bask in the spotlight. As a center-left chief presiding over a group of leaders, most of whom are center-right, that’s meant Costa has had to pick his battles.
Yet, officials were still unclear why the enlargement issue was a hill he wanted to die on, given the low chances of success. There’s still the likelihood he has a plan B, one official with knowledge of EU discussions said.
Sounds like populism
Officials rejected criticism that von der Leyen and Costa were pushing for badly conceived proposals. “It’s just called leadership,” said another EU official, implying that ideas are floated and gradually get pushed and evolve before they become real.
The summit showed that Europe’s most powerful national leaders still have the final word. That sometimes can be unsettling for those who operate the bloc’s machinery in Brussels — particularly when they hear a leader like Germany’s Merz start talking like there’s political capital in criticizing the EU.
In recent days he has attacked the Commission for an excess of red tape and bureaucracy. EU officials and diplomats think that sounds like populism. They also think they know what lies beneath it: He’s telling them to get back in their box.