Most recently, the party’s secretary-general openly challenged Weber and accused him of centralizing power. Meanwhile, Weber has transferred key allies from the EPP group in the European Parliament to leadership positions in the party headquarters.
“Weber has a firm grip on the parliamentary group,” a CDU MEP said. There is no one, so far, among the former heads of state and government of the party family who has said they would try to challenge him for the EPP chairmanship. The office is not considered suitable for active heads of government.
Merz has repeatedly made it clear in recent weeks that, compared to Chancellor Olaf Scholz, he wants to play a much more active role in Brussels if he becomes the next German leader. For that purpose, he needs support from Weber, who would keep chairing the party holding the biggest representation in the European Parliament and Council, the EU’s co-legislators.
Merz will have to go up against European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) at one point or another in order to come closer to his goals — for example when it comes to reducing bureaucracy.
“I will not accept that this machine continues to run as it does now,” Merz told attendees at an election campaign event in Erfurt on Friday evening. “This whole machine has got into a rhythm, it feeds on itself.”
Europe’s industry must become competitive again, he said. “We must not make ourselves smaller than we are.”
The CDU leader wants the future German government to take a clear stance in Brussels. The “German vote” should be a thing of the past, according to him. “A country like Germany, by far the most populous and economically strongest country in the European Union, must not abstain in Brussels,” Merz said.
