Seen from above, the Berlaymont building, the European Commission’s headquarters, is shaped like a star. To those working within, it’s lately begun to feel more like a pyramid.
Since Ursula von der Leyen was reappointed to head the EU executive late last year, several officials, granted anonymity to speak freely, told Contexte that decision-making powers are increasingly centralised — reserved for von der Leyen and her immediate team, or cabinet, on the Berlaymont’s thirteenth floor.
"Absolutely everything is decided in the president's office," a senior Commission official said.
One official who served as a commissioner’s chief of staff during von der Leyen’s 2019-2024 mandate said the level of centralisation seen since last autumn is like “nothing we’ve seen before” — an observation shared by others Contexte spoke to, who have close knowledge of the institution.
While some said the power grab built up slowly over the previous five-year mandate, this time around, the president and her team have a better sense of how to manoeuvre the institution to get their way.
Politburo power
In theory, the college of commissioners made up of the 27 national nominees from the 27 EU member states, takes collective decisions; von der Leyen, the German nominee appointed president by the European Council, can wield additional influence through a range of personal powers her office holds over the Union’s executive and its relations with the Council and Parliament.
In practice today, within the Commission, sources said two individuals call the shots: von der Leyen herself, and her loyal chief of staff and longtime colleague Bjoern Seibert. Seibert previously served von der Leyen in the same position during her time as German defence minister.
Described by some as a "brilliant mind”, the defence specialist is sometimes compared to Martin Selmayr, who, as chief of staff to the last Commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, was accused of unleashing terror to consolidate power.
Like Selmayr, Seibert "scares everyone", said a person who’s worked with him occasionally. Another official, based in a national capital, called the German civil servant "unmanageable”.
This fiery character has many staffers walking on eggshells. “We all try to anticipate his reactions, but no one dares to make a move, since no one wants to be responsible for infuriating Bjoern," one high-ranking Commission official said.
The same person likened the current Commission to the Politburo — the highly centralised executive organ of the Soviet Union. Some issues are kept from being passed up due to a fear of reprisals, the official said; but those which are can end up getting blocked in the thirteenth-floor traffic jam.
A presidential panopticon
That method means decisions are delayed — including on files that von der Leyen herself deems a priority.
The Clean Industrial Deal (CID), for instance, was a policy initiative von der Leyen promised for the first 100 days of her new mandate. But progress stalled, as Commission departments working on the plans received no feedback from the president’s team.
"Her cabinet was completely focused on something else and only started to take an interest in the file in late January — a bit late for a text expected at the end of February," said a Commission source. "That's how they operate."
The last-minute decision-making applies even when there are considerable financial implications. According to another source, von der Leyen’s cabinet decided on the €100 million budget for the CID’s industrial decarbonisation bank just hours before announcing it to the press.
Not even highly technical texts escape the presidential panopticon. The delegated act laying out the detailed definition of low-carbon hydrogen was blocked at the highest levels until July, amid fears it could reignite Franco-German tensions over the role of nuclear in the EU energy mix.
Cars, a subject dear to the German centre-right, face particular scrutiny. “If we modify as much as one comma, the file would have to go to von der Leyen’s desk,” one source said.
‘Not aware of anything’
Von der Leyen’s fellow commissioners can even be sidelined on issues they’re supposedly responsible for. Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius, for example, was not informed of a decision to boost the bloc’s defence sector with an €800-billion budget until the official announcement was made, according to a person familiar with the matter.
“We adapt,” said another official, who said he’s grown comfortable with what's come to be known as “the von der Leyen method”. Both he and his cabinet, he added, “have managed to make their ideas and priorities heard at the very top”, where they are “challenged and debated”.
Many commissioners keep a low profile. "No one within the College stands out or protests," said an official, not even the six vice-presidents — commissioners who sit slightly higher in the hierarchy.
Despite being an experienced and respected politician, the same source said that the Commission’s vice-president, Spanish socialist Teresa Ribera, nominally von der Leyen’s deputy, “doesn’t really carry any weight at the moment”.
Though nominated by France partly to keep tabs on the Mercosur trade deal, which Paris opposed, Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné failed to make a move when von der Leyen finalised the agreement with the South Americans last December. “No one balked, not even Stéphane Séjourné,” the same person added.
The commissioners’ lack of power has been noticed by those outside the Berlaymont. So far, member state representatives shrug it off. “At least it's moving forward," said one EU diplomat. Another, from a large country, said that despite the change, there is still enough room for them to manoeuvre.
But for EU lobbyists, this state of affairs is something new, requiring a change of approach. "This is the first time we've decided it's better to speak directly to von der Leyen’s cabinet about our issues," said one Brussels lobbyist, while a second added: "Our usual contacts are not aware of anything.”
All power to directors-general?
The commissioners flanking von der Leyen may be floundering to find their place, but one rung down, things are going swimmingly.
The heads of the Commission’s sectoral departments, the directors-general, are second-in-command after the commissioner in their respective policy area. While, on paper, these civil servants report to a commissioner or vice-president, increasingly, they answer directly to von der Leyen.
"Many have been appointed by von der Leyen herself, so they have developed a direct relationship with her," said one insider.
One former member of von der Leyen’s cabinet, Stéphanie Riso, now heads the budget department DG BUDG; the president’s former advisor on the Green Deal, Kurt Vandenberghe, now runs the climate service, DG CLIMA.
“The von der Leyen method is very beneficial for directors-general,” another senior Commission official said. “They gain influence because they know their commissioner has none.”
Another senior official said it is difficult, for now, to compete with the chiefs of staff for veteran commissioners Valdis Dombrovskis and Maroš Šefčovič; they not only “know their way around the shop” but can afford to go to von der Leyen direct, since — both being German — they speak her language. (Of the 54 chiefs of staff and their deputies, eight are German).
Keeping the commissioners busy
The president also maintains control by the way she distributes work, sources indicated.
Last February, von der Leyen appointed Ribera, Séjourné and Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra to lead work on the CID. That way of splitting responsibilities between three commissioners, two of them vice-presidents, was previously unheard of, said one of the Commission sources.
The fact that these three commissioners hail from different political families — Séjourné from the liberal Renew group, Ribera from the centre-left S&D and Hoekstra from the centre-right EPP —”inevitably” meant that, in the end, most decisions ended up in the hands of von der Leyen’s cabinet, that source added.
Even the institution's Secretariat-General, whose role is to coordinate and ensure coherence in the Commission’s work, appears weakened. Without clear guidance from above, it operates just as “a very urgent postbox”, one official said.
The control exerted by the president’s team extends as far as HR issues, and not only for the most senior posts. In late 2024, Seibert combed through candidates for openings in numerous cabinets, eliminating those he deemed overly political, various sources within the Commission said.
The creation of project groups, new under von der Leyen’s second term, further blurs the lines between commissioners. Under this new set-up, commissioners are grouped together to tackle work on fourteen cross-sectoral issues, from defence and artificial intelligence to housing, startups and agriculture.
Under this system, a commissioner can be appointed to lead a group that includes a vice-president, flipping the usual chain of command.
Under the rules of procedure, the president can decide to attend or even chair any group; in any event, her cabinet is always invited to attend.
According to the Commission, these groups will improve workflow and preparation.
But for one official, they are nothing more than a political machination to “keep the commissioners busy, while von der Leyen does whatever she wants”.
This article was originally published in French in April 2025.
