Von der Leyen to Head European Commission for a Second Term, Kallas to Replace Borrell, Costa for European Council: EU Leaders Agree on Top Positions

The leaders of the European Union have agreed on the candidates for the posts of President of the European Commission, European Council and High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. A meeting of EU leaders will take place in Brussels on Thursday, where these names will be presented to the heads of state and government for approval. Three people familiar with the talks told FAZ on Tuesday that negotiators from the European People's Party (EPP), Social Democrats and Liberals agreed on Tuesday.

According to media reports, Ursula von der Leyen will be nominated for the post of European Commission President for the second time, and Kaja Kallas will be nominated to replace Joseph Borrell as EU diplomat. The EU leaders agreed to nominate former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa to the presidency of the European Council for an initial term of two and a half years. In this position, he would be responsible for preparing EU summits and conducting working sessions. According to common practice, if Costa does a good job, he will be eligible for a second term in office.

This was agreed upon by the three largest parties in the European Parliament (EPP, FDP and ALDE).

The main EPP candidate, Ursula von der Leyen, is to be nominated by the European Council for the next term as President of the Commission on Thursday. However, she must be elected by the European Parliament. This should happen in mid-July.

EU leaders will meet in Brussels on 27-28 June to reach an agreement on the bloc's leadership before the vote on the next Commission President in the European Parliament, scheduled for mid-July.

As a reminder, on 19 February 2024, Ursula von der Leyen announced her intention to lead the European Commission for the second time as a candidate of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU). She has been head of the European Commission since 2019.

In May, the EU held elections to the European Parliament, which has to approve the President of the European Commission. The Parliament can vote only after a majority of EU heads of state and government formally nominate candidates.