FRANKFURT – European political groups on Tuesday agreed a deal on top European Union posts, selecting Germany’s Ursula von der Leyen for a second term as head of the European Commission, the bloc’s powerful executive body, sources told Reuters.
The three main centrist political groups agreed the package that would also make Portuguese ex-premier Antonio Costa European Council president and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas EU foreign policy chief, the sources said.
The deal, initially reported by Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper and dpa newswire, was struck by negotiators for the centre-right, centre-left and liberal European party alliances.
Von der Leyen, Costa and Kallas had been widely expected to take the top jobs but the EU’s national leaders did not agree on the package when they met for a dinner last week.
With the backing of the three big party groups, the deal is now likely to be confirmed swiftly when the national leaders meet again at a summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.
However, von der Leyen will also need the backing of the European Parliament to secure a second term. Diplomats say that is no foregone conclusion and she will likely need support from lawmakers beyond the three groups formally supporting her. REUTERS