For the first time in its history, we could be looking at a genuinely rightwing European Union | Alberto Alemanno

Ursula von der Leyen knows that her new commission will need support from the kind of hard-right parties it once swore to shun

Many observers breathed a sigh of relief earlier this year when the mainstream, pro-EU alliance - of centre-left, centre-right and liberal parties - held on to its majority in the European parliament elections. These parties, which have governed Europe for the past four decades, are to endorse Ursula von der Leyen's new European Commission by the end of the month, with the declared goal of making the European economy greener, more competitive and more secure.

Yet behind this business as usual account of EU political power lies a different, less reassuring reality. Von der Leyen's commission has not even taken office yet, but already the far right is punching well above its weight. And it will be emboldened by the return of Donald Trump to the White House.

Alberto Alemanno is the Jean Monnet professor of EU law at HEC Paris and visiting democracy fellow and scholar at Harvard University