Germany’s Scholz hails EU top job picks

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday that the three main centrist groups in
the European parliament had agreed on the top European Union posts. German conservative Ursula von der Leyen has been granted a second term as head of the EU’s powerful executive body and Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa will helm the European Council.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz lauded the European Union‘s proposed leadership for the coming years as the basis for “a good European future” and urged his fellow national leaders Wednesday to agree on the package at a summit this week.

Three mainstream political groups have agreed that German conservative Ursula von der Leyen should get a second term as the president of the EU’s executive Commission, while former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa, a socialist, should take the helm of the European Council, the forum where the 27 member countries are represented. He would succeed Charles Michel in chairing EU summits.