EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT Ursula von der Leyen is “recovering well” from “severe pneumonia”, according to a spokesperson.

The Commission has defended its reporting about von der Leyen’s health status, pushing back against criticism that it held back information from the public and stating that her ”ability to act was never in question”.

On Friday, the Commission had to confirm that von der Leyen had spent around week in a hospital in Hanover to receive treatment. It had previously said that she was ill and carrying out duties from Hanover, her home city in Germany, but only confirmed the hospitalisation after German news agenda dpa reported the information first.

Speaking on EU News Radio today, a spokesperson said that von der Leyen is “recovering well” and that she is “at her house in Hannover”.

“The President expects to resume her external appointments by the end of this week,” the spokesperson said.

That will include attending the World Economic Forum in Davos next week and the next plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

However, she will not be chairing this week’s scheduled meeting of Commissioners, asking Vice President Teresa Ribera to step into the role.

The spokesperson defended the Commission’s handling of information regarding von der Leyen’s condition.

“We said that the president had severe pneumonia. We said that she was dealing with severe illness in Hannover. We said that the president had canceled her external appointments in the first two weeks of January,” they said.

“We said that the president was in daily contact with her team, and we said that she was taking important phone calls, such as the one with [Italian] Prime Minister [Giorgia] Meloni.

“We therefore gave you the critical information about the health status of the president by saying what sickness she had and how serious it was, and we clarified that the president was in a position to keep business running by keeping daily in contact with the team and with the leaders if needed, so her ability to act was never in question.”