Into the Breach.

Even before taking office, von der Leyen knew hard work would be needed to transform the E.U. What she proposed back in September 2019 was a new "geopolitical Commission" - a stronger E.U. that would be more assertive on the international stage, including leading on the climate crisis and expanding its security role. Von der Leyen believes the answer to all this is ever closer integration, wheeling out a metaphor popular in Brussels: "The E.U. is like a bicycle. Europe on the Brink World This winter, as the E.u.'s top official worked around the clock in Brussels, she hoped for something unusual: that it would all be for nothing. In 2019, von der Leyen provoked outrage when she proposed a new E.U. role - "vice president for protecting our European way of life" - for the position overseeing migration policy. [Extracted from the article]