BRUSSELS — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's top team is piling the pressure on her to explain the selection of an EU business envoy from the German political group of which she's a member.
MEP Markus Pieper's recent appointment as the bloc's "Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Envoy" has sparked unrest among von der Leyen's most senior colleagues in the European Commission, who are now demanding answers about how Pieper — a German Christian Democrat — was appointed.