A row threatening to overshadow Ursula von der Leyen’s campaign for a second term as European Commission president has ended after a German colleague in her Christian Democratic Union party quit his new role as her special envoy for small businesses.
Markus Pieper resigned from the €17,000-a-month (£14,500) role hours before he was due to start on Tuesday after pressure from MEPs and European commissioners who had raised allegations of favouritism.
