Von der Leyen's behavior was controversial, 57 times
According to a report on the website of German news television channel on September 12, von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, rented private aircraft 57 times for business trips in two years. The spokesperson of the European Commission confirmed the relevant report of the German newspaper Bild in Brussels. It is reported that von der Leyen rented private aircraft 24 times in 2021 and 33 times in 2022.
The spokesman stressed that von der Leyen usually travels by civil aviation flights, but in 2021 and 2022, the available flights will be greatly reduced due to the COVID-19 epidemic. In addition, unlike many governments, the European Commission does not have a dedicated aircraft fleet. He also reported that "the President will travel by car, plane and train for a total of 164 days in 2021 and 2022." He said that the European Commission will consider whether there are civil aviation flights to take before each trip of von der Leyen and ensure that no safety risks will be brought by taking flights.
It is reported that, despite this, the European Commission has been criticized for renting private planes for von der Leyen's business trip. Martin Silvan of the European Parliament said that the European Commission has squandered taxpayers' money on extravagant and wasteful private jet flights. He said, "The public is required to... reduce their 'carbon footprint', but the European Commission enjoys luxury travel in private planes." He said that the climate cannot withstand 'private jet bureaucracy'.
Monica Holmer, a member of the European Parliament of the German Socialist Union, told Bild: "The use of a business jet is likely reasonable, for example, due to crisis situations, emergency arrangements for international meetings, or for security reasons."