EU summit
\nOnline
\nLondon
\nEU leaders meeting in Brussels remain divided over who should get the EU\u2019s top jobs, including a successor to Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker.
\nTalks resumed over breakfast on Monday morning, after the member countries failed to reach agreement at the emergency summit convened on Sunday.
\nSummit chair Donald Tusk decided to have a break for bilateral talks.
\nTusk and some leaders are said to be proposing Dutch centre-left politician Frans Timmermans for the top job.
\nBut the appointment faces stiff opposition from eastern European states and centre-right leaders from the EU\u2019s biggest political group.
\nJuncker\u2019s successor will be responsible for proposing new EU laws, enforcing the bloc\u2019s rules and handling trade deals.
\nAll of the EU\u2019s top jobs are changing hands this year, following European-wide elections in May.
\nTense differences have emerged over the positions and their key roles.
\nThe choices for the EU\u2019s top jobs have to take account of last month\u2019s European elections and achieve an acceptable balance regarding large and small states, gender and geography.
\nUnder the \u201cSpitzenkandidat\u201d procedure the EU adopted in 2014, leaders are supposed to take into account which party won the most seats in the European Parliament when deciding roles including the European Commission presidency.
\nThe centre-right European People\u2019s Party (EPP) got the most votes in the May elections, but it does not have a majority.
\nFrench President Emmanuel Macron is among those opposing their candidate, Germany\u2019s Manfred Weber, and the \u201cSpitzenkandidat\u201d process.
\nThe May elections also saw big gains for the liberals – including Mr Macron\u2019s alliance – and Greens, so the long-established centre-right and centre-left blocs can no longer dominate EU business. Nationalists also made gains.
\nThe Commission drafts EU laws, oversees national budgets, enforces EU treaties and negotiates international trade deals.
\nThe rare Sunday summit was called because EU leaders failed on 20 June to agree on candidates for the Commission president\u2019s job and other top posts: European Council president (to replace Donald Tusk); high representative for foreign policy (to replace Federica Mogherini); European Parliament president and European Central Bank president.
\nThe vast majority of EPP prime ministers don\u2019t believe that we should give up the presidency quite so easily, without a fight,\u201d Irish Taoiseach (prime minister) Leo Varadkar said on Sunday.
\nGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel has long backed Manfred Weber for the top job, pitting her against President Macron and other critics who argue he lacks the necessary experience, as he has never held a government post.
\nArriving at the Brussels summit, Merkel said \u201cit looks like the talks won\u2019t be very easy\u201d.
\nMerkel and Macron are said to have hatched a compromise deal to support Timmermans, as part of a balanced deal, on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Japan.
\nBut politicians in Poland, Hungary and Romania dislike the way Timmermans, a veteran of Brussels politics, has enforced the EU rule of law policy.
\nThe top EU appointments – especially for Commission chief – sharpen not only national rivalries but also those between the European Council and the European Parliament, which is the only directly elected EU institution.
\nThe \u201cSpitzenkandidat\u201d procedure was launched by the parliament in 2014, so keeping it is a matter of pride for MEPs.
\nBut Macron stressed the need to nominate two men and two women for the four key posts. The fifth – parliament president – is mainly in the hands of MEPs.
\nEU rules demand that the top appointments achieve a balance of geographical spread, big and small countries and gender.
\nBrussels diplomats, says the plan backed by Mr Tusk would give Mr Weber the post of parliament president, and make Mr Timmermans – who has strong French and Spanish support – Commission president.
\nAccording to Bloomberg news,\u00e1in that scenario Belgium\u2019s liberal Prime Minister Charles Michel would succeed Mr Tusk as European Council president and the foreign policy post would go to Bulgaria\u2019s Mariya Gabriel, a centre-right politician like Mr Weber.
\nThe EU treaties say the government leaders – the European Council – have to nominate a Commission president, then MEPs vote on that candidate.
\nThe leaders have to take account of the EU election results when they decide. The choice is made by qualified majority – that is:
\n* if 72% of member states vote in favour (21 out of the 28)
\n* and those states represent at least 65% of the total EU population
\nThe pressure is on, because the new parliament meets on 2 July, and at their 15-18 July session, MEPs are to vote on the nominee. The new Commission president is to take office on 1 November.
\nThe European Council president is to be elected by the EU leaders by qualified majority, and should take office on 1 December. He\/she chairs EU summits and steers the bloc\u2019s broad strategy, while the Commission deals with the fine details.
\nThe High Representative for foreign policy runs the EU External Action Service (EEAS), dealing with major challenges such as Iran\u2019s nuclear programme, Kosovo and EU interventions in Africa.
\nA favourite to become ECB president, taking over from Mario Draghi, is Jens Weidmann, head of the German Bundesbank. The ECB had to calm markets during the eurozone crisis and manage Greece\u2019s severe debt problems. The bank has enormous influence, given continuing concern about the euro.
\nThe European Parliament president steers MEPs\u2019 debates and their votes on most EU legislation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
EU summit Online London EU leaders meeting in Brussels remain divided over who should get the EU\u2019s top jobs, including a successor to Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker. Talks resumed over breakfast on Monday morning, after the member countries failed to reach agreement at the emergency summit convened on Sunday. Summit chair Donald Tusk decided to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":72002,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n