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The meeting of European leaders ends without agreement on proposals for key EU positions

Politiko 2024-06-18 09:14:07

The meeting of European leaders ends without agreement on proposals for key EU

European Union leaders ended without agreement on Monday a discussion on who should take the European bloc's top jobs for the next five years. The decision on the new names of the heads of EU institutions is expected to be taken at a high-level meeting next week.

The meeting of European leaders was the first since the elections for the European Parliament, where the parties of the center right, but also the extreme right scored victories, while the French President Emmanuel Macron and the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz suffered heavy defeats.

During dinner in Brussels, the 27 European leaders discussed who should lead the powerful executive body of the European Commission, who should lead the European Council and who should take the post of foreign policy chief.

They were widely expected to nominate Ms Ursula von der Leyen for a second term as President of the European Commission, former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa as President of the European Council and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas as Foreign Policy chief.

But the current president of the European Council, Charles Michel, said they needed more time.

"It was a good conversation which is going in the right direction. But there is no deal tonight," he told reporters after dinner.

Von der Leyen towards a second term...

Ursula Von der Leyen remains in the most favorable positions to secure another mandate as President of the European Commission, especially after the victory of her center-right party, the European People's Party, in the elections held from June 6-9.

France had previously considered the possibility of candidates other than Mrs. Von der Leyen, but now that President Macron has called early parliamentary elections, the government prefers the stability of the European Union.

Germany has made it clear that it supports Mrs Von der Leyen for another term. The opportunity for the leaders to formally make a decision is the high-level meeting that will be held on June 27 and 28./VOA

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