The European Commission is becoming more powerful, quietly

BRUSSELS ISEUEU at its noisiest when things are at their worst. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, clangs from crisis to crisis. The year began with a botched ban on vaccine exports that triggered a row over Northern Ireland and scotched the ’s free-trading reputation. Her office sent a bizarrely dismissive message to the president of Ukraine after he invited Mrs von der Leyen to an independence day celebration while Russian troops massed on the country’s border. Those with kind words about the president’s leadership keep quiet; those who think she is not up to the job are loud. Beneath the brouhaha, a change is afoot. Under the maligned Mrs von der Leyen, the commission is becoming more powerful.Some new powers stem from crisis. A plan to dish out cash to struggling governments has left the commission as a proto-treasury, signing off economic policy and handing out money. In exchange for a share of €750bn ($895bn) in grants and loans, governments must overhaul their economies in line with Brussels-approved plans. It is a familiar scheme. During the euro-zone crisis, the commission demanded wrenching reforms from stricken countries in exchange for bail-out cash. Except that now all countries are in the same boat. In a development that would make the psychological conditioners in “A Clockwork Orange” cheer, those countries that had experienced such a programme knew exactly what to do. Efforts from Spain and Greece, both bail-out veterans, were highly praised. Draft proposals suggested by the German government, which is more accustomed to prescribing economic medicine than taking it, were initially knocked back.