Quick Luddite Notes

đŸ‡ȘđŸ‡ș The state of Ursula von der Who?

POLITICO: Ursula von der Who? Polling shows many EU citizens don’t know who Commission president is:

In a POLITICO poll conducted by pollster Public First across three major EU countries, only about one in five German and Spanish respondents said the Commission president was doing a good job; in France, just 12% said the same.

Nearly one in three respondents in Spain and France, and 45% in Germany, said von der Leyen was doing a bad job. The poor performance review in von der Leyen’s homeland was largely driven by people who said they’d vote for the far-right Alternative for Germany party, with more than half of those voters saying she was doing a “very bad” job.

In France and Spain, far more people said they didn’t consider her performance either good or bad; rather, they either had no opinion one way or the other or had never even heard of her.

More than one in five French respondents said they didn’t know who von der Leyen was, compared with 10% in Spain and just 5% in Germany.

Just how much of a shithead is this woman? Let’s find out.

POLITICO: Brussels won’t offer ‘associate EU membership’ to Brexit Britain:

The European Union has just offered Canada “associate EU membership.” Don’t expect it to do the same for Brexit Britain.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s surprise announcement came during her State of the Union address in Strasbourg on Wednesday.

“We share one ocean, one set of values, one way of seeing the world,” she said, inviting Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to help make his country “the first associate member of the European Union.”

Could Britain be the second? The idea of “associate membership” has already piqued the interest of some in London. ... But decision-makers in Brussels have been quick to nip the idea in the bud.

One senior EU official told POLITICO that von der Leyen’s offer to Canada is about cutting a deal for a country normally ineligible to join the EU. It isn’t for European countries with commitment issues.

“Unlike Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Norway and the U.K., Canada is not in Europe,” the senior EU official said.

“It cannot join the EU. Norway shouldn’t be looking at this and thinking ‘oh we want more.’ This isn’t for them. Their route to that is to join the EU. Same for the U.K.”

Now, how stupid can she be? Second-best to Trump!

POLITICO: EU blindsided by von der Leyen’s Canada ‘associate member’ pitch:

Von der Leyen dropped the bombshell proposal during her State of the Union address Wednesday, directly addressing Carney from the floor of the Parliament.

“I would like to work with you on opening the door for Canada to be the first associate member of the EU,” she said, drawing thunderous applause from MEPs and an embrace from Carney.

There is another big problem: No one seems to know exactly what associate membership would entail.

And within hours, Canada was tamping down expectations.

“We’re not there,” Jonathan Wilkinson, Canada’s incoming ambassador to the EU, told reporters in Strasbourg when asked about associate membership. “What we’re focused on is actually driving results.”

More of her wisdom follows.

POLITICO: Von der Leyen fleshes out Carney’s vision to paint Europe as leader of world’s middle powers:

Ursula von der Leyen used a major speech on Wednesday to pitch Europe as the leader of a group of like-minded countries that want to hold their own against rival powers such as Russia and China.

Not invited to join this EU-led coalition? Donald Trump’s United States. ... Most of all, however, it was von der Leyen’s implicit suggestion that the EU should forge on without relying on the U.S., striking up new partnerships and setting up its own Security Council — outside of NATO — that seemed to unnerve some of the diplomats, lawmakers and officials watching her speech.

“I think it is a very bad idea. I think that it gives the signal to the world that NATO is irrelevant and we need to replace it with something,” said Riho Terras, an Estonian member of the conservative European People’s Party and former commander of his country’s armed forces. “Putin is talking about recreating the security infrastructure in Europe and now the European Union starts to do it itself by attacking NATO.”

The Security Council was “a dead-born idea,” said Ćœeljana Zovko, vice-chair of von der Leyen’s EPP.

Indeed, many watchers pointed to the reality that in areas ranging from technology to pharmaceuticals to defense procurement, the EU remains heavily dependent on the U.S.

“So much of what we need for Europe’s defense and our economy is done with the United States,” said a diplomat from an eastern EU country who was granted anonymity. “Why alienate them?”

OK, but why alienate China?