German Interior Minister 'Disappointed' By New EU Commission

German Interior Minister 'Disappointed' by New EU Commission

The German interior minister has criticized the European Union's executive body led by Ursula von der Leyen for going after member states instead of being the driving force behind their shared policies

BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd May, 2020) The German interior minister has criticized the European Union's executive body led by Ursula von der Leyen for going after member states instead of being the driving force behind their shared policies.

"I pinned high hopes on the new EU Commission. Today I am disappointed, to put it mildly," Horst Seehofer said in an interview to the Spiegel magazine published Friday.

The veteran politician from Bavaria's conservative CSU party said he could take care of migrant children in Greek refugee camps and sea rescues but stressed they were all EU tasks.

Seehofer argued that the commission was too busy taking legal action against EU nations that it sees as acting in violation of the union's regulations.

"I noticed that the EU has started unusually many infringement and complaint procedures against member states," the minister said, adding this hurt the bloc's unity.

The commission has acted against Poland over its judicial reforms, against Hungary for giving the prime minister broader powers to fight the pandemic and, more recently, against Germany after a court ruled that the European Central Bank's sovereign debt purchases partially contravened the constitution.