European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has formally severed the EU’s policy towards neighbours in North Africa and the Middle East from its approach to aspiring members on its eastern flank, in a move critics say risks perpetuating the EU’s “double standards”. For two decades, the bloc has coordinated its partnerships with neighbouring countries from one executive branch helmed by a single European Commissioner. But the new team pitched by von der Leyen on Tuesday morning features a Commissioner for enlargement responsible for the eastern neighbourhood, Slovenia’s Marta Kos, and an…
