EU Affairs
Von der Leyen’s messages auto-delete to save space on her phone, Commission says
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The use of disappearing messages is recommended in Commission guidance called “Checklist to Make Your Signal Safer,” from 2022.
“On the one hand, it reduces the risk of leaks and security breaches, which is of course an important factor,” Commission spokesperson Balazs Ujvari said. “And also, it’s a question of space on the phone — so, effective use of a mobile device.”
“The president has been complying with these internal guidelines and is using the disappearing message feature, which explains why we could not retrieve any such SMSs.”
He added: “SMSs may have to be registered under certain circumstances — for example, if there is a need to follow up, if there’s an administrative or legal impact.”
In the case of Macron’s message, the Commission concluded that it didn’t meet that threshold. That decision was made by von der Leyen’s powerful head of cabinet, Bjoern Seibert.
“He was one of the actors taking part in this discussion,” Ujvari said. “The President assessed the SMS with her Head of Cabinet and relevant services within the Commission.”
This isn’t the first time von der Leyen’s phone habits have raised eyebrows. Her text exchanges with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla over Covid vaccine contracts were never archived — prompting an ongoing Ombudsman investigation dubbed “Pfizergate.”
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The European Commission president’s trip comes on the heels of an announcement by Germany’s Rheinmetall that it plans two new factories in Bulgaria, making the country Europe’s largest gunpowder manufacturer.
Aug 31
3 mins read
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Le chef de cabinet de la présidente de la Commission européenne est l’homme à appeler pour faire avancer les choses à Bruxelles. Mais il a trop de pouvoir, estiment ses détracteurs, de plus en plus nombreux.
Jul 9
17 mins read
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The asylum agency coordinates the implementation of the EU’s migration policy among member countries, including asylum applications and deportations.
Members of the European Parliament who scrutinized the agency’s 2023 accounts wrote that the legislature “strongly deplores the weaknesses in the management of conflicts of interest within the agency.”
The approval of the accounts is non-binding but allows the Parliament to issue recommendations to EU bodies on how to handle their budgets.
Following an exchange with the agency’s executive director, Nina Gregori, lawmakers on the Committee on Budgetary Control voted to greenlight the accounts, albeit with a formal reprimand and demands for changes to the agency’s management. The accounts still need to be ratified in the plenary in October.
Lawmakers recommended that the agency establish an independent internal ethics body, strengthen its whistle-blowing protection rules, and publish an anonymized version of the OLAF report.
The Parliament also instructed the agency to establish an exit interview program to identify why there is such high turnover among staff, and to report back to lawmakers on the results during the 2024 accounts discharge procedure.
MEPs vowed to continue their close scrutiny of the agency, especially of its implementation of the recommendations of its supervisory board. Despite the findings of the OLAF report, the board decided not to launch disciplinary procedures against top management and opted for structural reforms within the agency.
Green MEP Erik Marquardt, the lead negotiator on the file, did not reply to a request for comment.
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