EU summit ends without agreement on top jobs

18/6/2024 7:35

        European Union leaders ended a discussion on who should take the bloc's top jobs for the next five years without agreement on Monday, aiming instead
        for a decision at a summit next week.
        
        The leaders' meeting was the first since the European Parliament election, which saw gains for the centre-right and right-wing nationalists, but humiliating defeats for French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
        
        Over dinner in Brussels, the EU's 27 national leaders discussed who should run the powerful European Commission executive body, who should chair their European Council meetings and who should take the post of foreign policy chief.
        
        They had been widely expected to nominate Ursula von der Leyen of Germany for a second term as European Commission chief, Portuguese ex-premier Antonio Costa as Council president and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas as top diplomat.
        
        But the current European Council president, Charles Michel, said they needed more time.