As the EU’s maverick leaders bow out, the ‘puppets’ take their place

THE new leaders of the European Union take power today in Brussels, in a changing of the guard that promises a more austere, less maverick approach.

In contrast to the fiercely independent Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk, the new EU chiefs are already battling suspicions they are puppets controlled by Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron.

Mr Tusk infuriated EU leaders with his scathing criticism of Brexiteers and itchy Twitter finger which led to him being dubbed the “Bercow of Brussels” by one exasperated diplomat. Mr Tusk is brutally blunt in his attacks on Vladimir Putin and the US president, whom he calls “the other Donald”.

“The president of the European Council is meant to be an efficient chairman of summit meetings, not a politician,” the diplomat told The Sunday Telegraph.

Mr Tusk, 62, is so proud of his social media prowess that he dedicated a section of a report on his last months in office to his impressive outreach on Twitter and Instagram.

The Gdansk-born anti-communist dissident enraged Mr Macron and other leaders by tweeting his support for a longer Brexit extension before the final decision was made.

Charles Michel, then Belgian prime minister, was one of those leaders and will succeed Mr Tusk. Mr Michel, described by sources as “a member of the Macron fan club” supported the French president’s demand for a short extension to maximise pressure on Britain.

He will be tougher on Britain than the dovish Mr Tusk, at least behind the scenes.

Mr Michel, a francophone liberal, said he would bring “his own style” to the job.

“Perhaps [I will be] more cautious with my tweets, at least at the beginning,’’ he told Mr Tusk on Friday.

Belgian politicians, with their bitterly divided national politics, have a reputation in Brussels for a mythical ability to broker consensus and build coalitions. Mr Michel, who led a four-party coalition, is the third council president and the second Belgian to hold the role.

“We want Michel to be a coldblooded Belgian and not a Macron puppet,” one EU diplomat said.

Mr Michel, 42, was the youngest prime minister of Belgium since 1845 and the son of a former EU commissioner and politician.

He has had a gilded life compared with the hard-bitten Mr Tusk, a self-confessed former football hooligan and Solidarity activist, jailed for illegal anti-Communist activities.

Mr Juncker’s devilish sense of humour and fondness for a drink is famous, but Ursula von der Leyen will bring a more earnest approach to the European Commission presidency.

The 61-year-old plans to sleep in the commission’s Berlaymont headquarters to boost efficiency and cut costs. Mr Juncker, a wily veteran who was Luxembourg’s prime minister for 18 years, would never dream of living in what he calls that “ugly building”.

Mrs von der Leyen, the daughter of a commission official, may have been born in Brussels but she can’t match Mr Juncker’s 30 years of experience at the heart of Brussels power-broking. Her stint as German defence minister was a failure.

Mr Juncker, an architect of the single currency, shoots from the hip. Mrs von der Leyen, an anglophile who studied at UCL, is reserved. Both are polyglots, fluent in French, German and English, and in Mr Juncker’s case, Luxembourgish and Latin.

While no one told Mr Juncker, 64, what to do, there are suspicions Mrs von der Leyen, a mother of seven, is in hock to her close ally the German Chancellor and will be stymied by a fragmented European Parliament.

While the substance of the EU’s Brexit policy will not change, the style and approach of the new leaders could hardly be more different than their predecessors.

‘The president of the European Council is meant to be a chairman of summit meetings, not a politician’