Summit without agreement

Von der Leyen still fears for top job

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen

(Bild: AFP)

No agreement at the special summit on top jobs in the EU on Monday evening: the current Commission President Ursula von der Leyen must continue to fear for a second term in office. After the meeting in Brussels, Council President Charles Michel warned that it was the "collective duty" of the heads of state and government to reach a decision at the official EU summit at the end of next week.

"The 27 must work very hard to reach an agreement on the institutional cycle and the strategic agenda", said the President-in-Office of the Council. After the European elections at the beginning of June, the EU heads of government will have to decide who they want to propose as President of the European Commission, President of the Council and Foreign Affairs Commissioner. Unofficially, the future head of the EU Parliament is also likely to be negotiated. Michel did not want to comment on the three names circulating for the top jobs.

European People's Party backs von der Leyen
The heads of government belonging to the European People's Party (EPP) support a second term for von der Leyen at the head of the Commission. According to EU diplomats, they also demanded half a Council Presidency mandate as a result of her election victory. Unlike the Commission presidency, the Council presidency is not awarded for five years, but only for two and a half years. However, in the past it was common for one political family to claim both terms of office.

Council President Charles Michel after the special summit in Brussels

(Bild: APA/AFP )

Portugal's former prime minister has a good chance of winning the top post
According to the "Politico" portal, the idea of splitting the post of EU Council President comes from Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, who is also hoping to win the post. Until now, Portugal's former Prime Minister Antonio Costa, who is a member of the Social Democrats who came second in the European elections, had the best prospects of succeeding Charles Michel.

The approval for a further term of office for Commission President von der Leyen is clearer: numerous heads of state and government had already spoken out in favor of this before the meeting. Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) also said that the EPP was behind von der Leyen as Commission President - and also behind Roberta Metsola as Parliament President. Both politicians are members of the EPP. In order to be re-elected, von der Leyen needs a qualified majority of 15 heads of state and government representing at least 65 percent of the European population.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas has been named as a promising candidate to succeed Josep Borrell from Spain as head of the European External Action Service (EEAS). She is a member of the third-placed liberal Renew and is well respected at EU level. However, according to media reports, this is precisely what she is accused of in her home country: She is more focused on a move to a high post in the EU or NATO than on the concerns in Estonia, it was said there again and again.