Von der Leyen: Russian war causing 'uncertainty for investment'

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Ms Von der Leyen will today encourage G7 leaders to engage in high-level talks over how to ensure rapid investment in Ukraine after the war torn nation had its EU candidate status approved by the bloc’s leaders. The President of the European Commission is among those in favour of a solution similar to the Marshall Plan, the US-sponsored aid scheme that helped rebuild Europe after World War 2. Ms Von der Leyen will make her case at the G7 summit at the Alpine castle of Schloss Elmau in southern Germany, which runs from today until Tuesday. The host nation will welcome representatives from the world’s other major economies,  Canada, France, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US.

Ms Von der Leyen was made President of the European Commission three years ago in 2019, the first woman appointed to the top job in Brussels, the city of her birth.

Her leadership of the EU’s executive branch earns her around €33,400 (£28,600) each month.

The figure takes into account her base pay of around €28,460 (£24,400), and her tax-free allowances.

The EU chief’s salary, which is paid for out of the EU budget, increased by just under €560 (£480) a month in December 2020.

Ms Von der Leyen’s total net worth is around €3million (£2.6million), according to German wealth magazine, Vermögensmagazin.

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Italian MEP Antonio Maria Rinaldi hit out at the hundreds of thousands of euros the EU chief has earned while leading the bloc.

Speaking to Express.co.uk in 2020, he said: “Even if she decided to cut her salary 20 percent, she would still have more than enough money to buy her groceries.

“She earns around €33,000 a month.

“Sadly, right now, many European citizens cannot say the same thing.

“It is a slap in the face of poverty.”

Before her EU career, Ms Von der Leyen enjoyed a 16-year stint in German politics after first being elected to the Parliament of Lower Saxony in 2003.

From 2005 until 2019, she served in Angela Merkel’s cabinet, the longest tenure of any minister to serve the former Chancellor.

As a federal minister, Ms Von der Leyen received a monthly salary of around €15,000 (£12,000), according to Vermögensmagazin.

Once she was elected to the Bundestag in 2009, her monthly salary was topped up to around nearly €19,000 (£16,000).

Prior to entering politics, Ms Von der Leyen worked as a doctor and research assistant at the Hannover Medical School, where she reportedly netted about €5,000 (£4,000) per month.

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The EU chief still has a home near Hannover with her husband Heiko von der Leyen, with whom she has seven children.

The couple own horses at the farm in Burgdorf, and Ms Von der Leyen, a keen equestrian, has competed in competitive horse riding.

Mr Von der Leyen is also a doctor by training, and the founder of a biotech company that conducts research into stem cells and artificial organs.

He comes from the German noble Von der Leyen family, who made a fortune as silk merchants.

Yet, despite his family’s historic wealth, Ms Von der Leyen previously admitted that she earned more than her husband.

Speaking to Bavarian newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung in 2010, she claimed her husband did not have a “problem” with the differences between their salaries.

She added: “But I think he’s wise enough to know if he were to mention it, I would say, ‘what’s the problem?’”

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