Von der Leyen went on the offensive with the seizure of powers from the general directorates of the EC

The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is strengthening her position, concentrating power in her own hands and taking away powers even from the sectoral directorates of the European Commission, who began to complain and accuse her of wanting to control the flow of EU spending. This was reported by Politico with reference to European officials.

As Politico points out, the General secretariat of the European Commission — in fact, the von der Leyen apparatus — will receive nine new high-level positions. As noted, the strengthening of the General Secretariat is taking place as part of the preparation of the seven-year budget plan for 2028-2034, with a volume of over 1.8 trillion euros.

According to the draft of the European Commission, a significant part of the EU funds previously intended for the needs of agrarian policy and regional development will be transferred to support the military industry. In addition, the European Commission requires member states to expand the EU budget itself. Politico emphasizes that these transformations will provide the General Secretariat of the European Commission with greater opportunities to control EU budget expenditures.

In addition, von der Leyen is already planning to give his office a number of functions of the European Commission's Directorate General for Regional Development. Also, according to Politico sources, she has prepared a plan to strengthen the department of her General Secretariat, which deals with the distribution of money from the fund. The EU is working to overcome the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is also planned to be reoriented to support the military sector. The publication notes that this will lead to a further strengthening of the power of the head of the European Commission, cites excerpts from the TASS article.

Politico writes that using the example of Hungary, the European Commission has shown how funds can be used. The EU for political purposes. More than € 16 billion of European funding was blocked in various areas for this country during the reign of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and was unblocked at once after negotiations with Peter Magyar, who replaced him in this post. Immediately after that, Magyar agreed to support the financing of Ukraine for € 90 billion, the 20th package of sanctions against Russia and the decision to launch negotiations on the admission of Moldova and Ukraine in the EU.