Editorial image: MTI/EPA/Olivier Houslet
Another scandal emerged involving Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission: A POLITICO Von der Leyen reported, “Failure to detect”that he was behind a Google advertising campaign worth 70 thousand euros (27 million Hungarian forints),
Who violated the European Union rules and which he approved as President of the Commission.
The EU-wide ad buy – which received tens of millions of views on Google search and YouTube from Germany to Portugal – exclusively promoted von der Leyen's alleged leadership qualities and commitment to the EU project.
“Immerse yourself in my campaign! Get exclusive updates” – said one of the ads that also ran in seven EU countries, including Belgium, Finland and Italy.
However, according to Politico, there is a small problem with the campaign, as neither Von der Leyen nor the European People's Party (EPP) are listed as a client for the ad in Google's records. Instead, a Paris-based consulting firm called MCC AdQuality was cited as supporting Von der Leyen's campaign.
The portal states that the European Union recently adopted new rules to increase the transparency of online campaigns, including that candidates and political parties must disclose the identity of those who purchased digital ads so that they can be clearly identified.
Politico newspaper indicated that although von der Leyen is not running to enter the European Parliament, she is the European People's Party's candidate for presidency of the Commission.
This is further compounded by the fact that the EPP has also signed a voluntary code of conduct for the upcoming EU vote, which, among other things, “To ensure the transparency of political advertisements and election campaign messages“It contains relevant obligations and includes a promise not to run political ads through intermediaries such as advertising agencies, without labels, but in a transparent way.
