German Finance Minister Christian Lindner sharply criticized European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's performance in office on Thursday, less than two months ahead of European Parliament elections.
"The past years under a (European) Commission headed by Ursula von der Leyen were lost years for competitiveness," Lindner, a leading member of Germany's liberal-conservative Free Democrats (FDP), said on Thursday in Luxembourg at a meeting of eurozone finance ministers.
Von der Leyen is a member of Germany's centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) who spent years as a minister under former German chancellor Angela Merkel.
Lindner on Thursday said that von der Leyen had "regrettably not focused on strengthening the European economy during her term of office."
That means pressing work is needed in the coming years to catch up, Lindner said.
Next week, the leaders of EU countries will meet in Brussels to discuss plans to strengthen the bloc's economic competitiveness.
According to a draft for a joint declaration, which has been made available to dpa, the leaders want to speak out in favour of more business-friendly measures.
The draft declaration also calls for pushing forward with a closer union of capital markets, a step that would require reducing bureaucratic hurdles between EU countries for companies trying to raise money.
