EU leaders reach agreement on top jobs. Commission to von der Leyen, Council to Costa, Kallas High Representative

Brussels – It was a lightning deal not even three weeks after the European elections, with Ursula von der Leyen picked for the European Commission, António Costa for the European Council, and Kaja Kallas as EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The European Council approved the package of appointments of the new heads of the European Union institutions at the end of an evening of discussions that lasted less than previously expected. A little more than an hour of discussion among the heads of state and government of the 27 EU member states – facilitated by the positive climate that emerged even before the summit began – finally culminated in the vote in the room among the Twenty-seven.

The green light to the package circulating for weeks in Brussels and already discussed at the June 17 informal dinner was predictable but not obvious. At the table of the 27 leaders, everything can change even at the last second. But in the end, the basis for today’s (June 27) discussions held up without any surprises, as tracked by the understanding between the six negotiators from the three European political families that hold the centrist majority in the European Parliament, namely the Populars, the Socialists, and the Liberals. Virtually all other EU leaders followed suit, except for Italy’s Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, who abstained on von der Leyen but rejected Kallas and Costa, and her Hungarian colleague, Viktor Orbán, who made his hard-line opposition stance clear without question but in the end gave the green light to Costa and abstained on Kallas.

“Mission accomplished,” exulted outgoing European Council president, Charles Michel, the first to officially announce that Costa was elected as his successor (as of December), von der Leyen was proposed as a candidate to succeed herself as head of the Commission and will now have to receive the approval of the EU Parliament at its inaugural session in Strasbourg (potentially “as early as July 18”, Roberta Metsola, the President of the European Parliament said), and Kallas is the candidate appointed as EU High Representative and will have to receive the agreement of both the Commission Presidency and the EU Parliament at the go-ahead for the entire College of Commissioners (as she is also Vice-President of the EU executive). “We will soon be part of this pro-European team,” was the greeting from Michel’s successor, remotely connected from Portugal. “We have many challenges ahead of us, but the Union has shown resilience in unity,” Costa stressed, making it clear that “building unity will be my priority, starting with the strategic agenda” adopted by the European Council tonight.

“This is a huge responsibility at this time of geopolitical tensions,” are the first words of the nominee designated as successor to Josep Borrell, who promises to “work to achieve EU unity, protect EU interests and values in the changed geopolitical context, and build global partnerships.” At this point, for Kallas, there will be the obligatory step of a hearing in the European Parliament. Still, she already looks forward to the opportunity to “work closely with Costa and von der Leyen,” two politicians with whom “I have already worked side by side for several years and will continue to do so with pleasure, I have a lot of respect for both of them.”

In a press conference at the end of the European Council, the confirmed candidate to lead the Commission wanted to thank the leaders for “their support for my second term. I am thrilled to share this moment with Costa and Kallas.” President von der Leyen recalled that she will now need a confirmation vote of the majority of 720 MEPs, “after which I will present the political lines to the European Parliament for the next term.” The appointment will almost certainly be scheduled for the July 16-19 plenary session (the ‘almost’ depends only on the setting of the agenda on July 11), the same day as the election of the European Parliament President. Again, the centrist majority has a confirmation of the leader on the table, with the nomination package informally including the outgoing President, Roberta Metsola, to succeed herself.