EU28 agreed on top EU posts – Ursula von der Leyen to be head of EC

The EU28 leaders agreed reluctantly on Tuesday on who should occupy the bloc’s top positions for the next five years, diplomatic sources said, but the package hit resistance from the European Parliament.

Here are the names as agreed by the 28 leaders in Brussels after three days of tough negotiations.

The center-right Frenchwoman, currently heading the International Monetary Fund, would lead the Frankfurt-based European Central Bank (ECB), which steers the economies of the 19 members of the single-currency euro zone.

The German defense minister with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right ruling party would take on the helm of the European Commission, which proposes laws for the bloc on everything from migration to climate, negotiates trade deals with third countries and polices member states’ budgets.

The liberal caretaker Belgian prime minister would become the next chairman of EU leaders’ summits and be tasked with building compromises between the often fractious 28 member states.
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT PRESIDENTS — Manfred Weber and Sergei Stanishev

The German ally of Merkel, Manfred Weber, and a socialist former prime minister of Bulgaria, Sergei Stanishev, would share the leadership of the new EU assembly, for two-and-a-half years each.

Spain’s socialist acting foreign minister would become the bloc’s top diplomat in Brussels, replacing outgoing Italian Federica Mogherini. In this role, Borrell would also be a deputy head of the new Commission.