Von der Leyen hands reins to Ribera as health improves

The president of the European Commission is on the mend and expected to resume in-person appointments soon, amid criticism over lack of communication about her condition over the past week.

Ursula von der Leyen will not chair this week’s College of Commissioners on Wednesday and has asked executive vice president Teresa Ribera to step in, a Commission spokesperson confirmed on Monday, adding that “the president is recovering well”.

Currently recuperating at her residence in Hannover, Germany, Von der Leyen is expected to resume her external engagements by the end of this week.

She plans to participate in the World Economic Forum in Davos next week and attend the European Parliament’s plenary session in Strasbourg.

Her office announced on January 3 that the president was cancelling all external commitments for the first two weeks of January due to “severe pneumonia”.

Pneumonia is a respiratory infection that causes inflammation in the air sacs of one or both lungs, often resulting in fluid or pus accumulation. Symptoms can include persistent coughing, fever, chills, and difficulty breathing.

At 66 years old, von der Leyen falls into a high-risk group for complications from pneumonia.

The president was hospitalised for over a week from 2 January to 10 January but continued to fulfil her duties during her stay. “Her ability to act was never in question,” the spokesperson said.

Running the EU from a hospital bed

The disclosure of von der Leyen’s hospitalisation sparked criticism over the Commission’s handling of communication to the general public of her health conditions.

Her team only publicly acknowledged her hospitalisation last Friday, leading to accusations of inadequate transparency.

The Commission spokesperson defended the approach, stating they provided “critical information about the president’s health status,” including the severity of her illness – which hinted at her hospitalisation – and her decision to cancel external engagements.

While confirming that von der Leyen had a severe case of pneumonia, the spokesperson clarified that she was never on a respirator or in intensive care.

“The president was in the position, despite being in a hospital, to still run the Commission by being in daily contact [with her team], by taking up the calls she had to take and by ensuring that business continued to run,” the spokesperson said.

Von der Leyen’s health has since improved, and she is expected to fully resume her official responsibilities shortly.