The little-known kingmaker calling shots at EU

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STRASBOURG - Buttoned-up and with a taste for political intrigue, Manfred Weber has quietly emerged as one of the most powerful men on the European political stage.

The German politician has long headed the centre-right European People's Party, the largest political group in the EU -- despite being largely unknown to the general public.

Not so within the corridors of the European Parliament, where even rivals who accuse him of flirting dangerously with the far right acknowledge he is now the "kingmaker".

That's only to be expected since he has "the chance to be today" the president of the biggest party in Europe, Weber shrugged matter-of-factly in an interview with AFP.

His latest big win came on Wednesday, as lawmakers approved the new European Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen, a fellow conservative, for her second term.

Weeks of political horse-trading resulted in all 27 commission members -- most of them from the EPP -- passing their confirmation hearings unscathed.

This despite strong opposition from the left and centre to Raffaele Fitto, of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's far-right Brothers of Italy party, being entrusted with a commission vice presidency.

"For me that is a good day," Weber told journalists ahead of the vote in Strasbourg.

Fitto argued that he represents a more moderate wing of the hard right that needs courting rather than shunning.

"I want to split them, I want to split between the real hardcore right extreme" of Germany's Alternative for Germany (AfD), France's Marine Le Pen and Hungary's Viktor Orban, "and the serious conservatives," he told AFP.

Putting Meloni and the AfD "into the same basket" is a "big mistake", he said.

Manfred Weber is an engineer by training who styles himself a defender of farmers and a fighter against bureaucracy. (AFP)

Bitter 'fun'

The approach has not won him many friends on the left and the centre, where lawmakers accuse him of being deliberately ambiguous toward the far right for political gain.

"Manfred Weber is having a lot of fun," said France's Manon Aubry, co-head of the Left group in the EU parliament, who says her German colleague seeks alliances to his left or right depending on the interest of the day.

An EU lawmaker since 2004 and head of the EPP since 2014, Weber has long been champing at the bit to reach the level of influence he enjoys today.

In 2019 he was angling to become commission president but lost out to von der Leyen -- something some believe he is still bitter about.

"You are not sitting there... and that is why you are upset," Orban mocked during a parliamentary session this year, pointing to von der Leyen's seat.

Weber maintains that is water under the bridge.

"2019 is a long time ago," said Weber, who has never held ministerial office in Germany either but says he is happy where he is.

"The most important decisions in Europe are today done not in the national capitals anymore, but in Brussels and Strasbourg," he said.

The EPP confirmed its status as the parliament's strongest group after European elections in June, winning 188 out of 720 seats  -- a few more than in 2019.

But its influence has grown as far-right gains and left-wing losses have allowed it to play both sides of the fence.

An engineer by training who styles himself a defender of farmers and a fighter against bureaucracy, Weber got von der Leyen re-elected in July with support from the Socialists & Democrats and the centrist Renew group.

But he has since aligned with far-right groups to scale down some of the EU's ambitious environmental policies -- among other issues.

"He is the kingmaker... the one who calls the shots," said Marie Toussaint, of the Greens.

The full commission was eventually approved with votes from the left, centre and right, including Meloni's group.

Weber was the first to hug von der Leyen after the vote.

Outside the bubble

With thin glasses, greying beard and receding hairline, Weber often cautiously prefers to brief journalists in off-the-record huddles, rather than being quoted directly.

Adamantly pro-European, pro-Ukraine and pro-rule-of-law, Weber is seen as "a bit of a liberal" in his home region of Bavaria, according to fellow German Daniel Freund.

"Here in Brussels, he is doing a bit of the opposite of all that" by allying with the extreme right, said Freund.

Yet, Weber brushes aside criticism.

A devout Christian, he says he finds his grounding in religion and the world outside EU institutions.

"To go on Sunday to my Catholic service in my church, to speak with my friends who are farmers, who are craftsmen, who are normal people, that is extremely important because Brussels can sometimes be too much of a bubble," he said.