27 Europeans begin negotiations on senior positions in Brussels after elections

BRUSSELS (EFE). – The European Union’s heads of state and government began negotiations this Monday to renew the EU’s senior positions after the European Parliament elections, in which they will have to seek a gender balance for four positions, geographically and politically.

Although there is always room for surprises, there are four names in each pool: German Ursula von der Leyen, again to head the European Commission; Portuguese Antonio Costa to the European Council; Maltese Roberta Metsola to be repeated in the European Parliament and Estonian Kaja Kallas to be elected as EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

First approximation

The leaders of the 27 will sit down at the European Council table tonight, at 6:00 pm local time, for an informal dinner, which is planned as a first approximation to the selection of this shortlist.

Although this could lead to an agreement in principle, EU heads of state and government are still due to meet at a formal summit later this month to finalise their decisions.

Before the dinner, the heads of state and government of the European Popular Party will meet at a hotel in Brussels to agree on their strategy, which will focus on achieving von der Leyen’s re-election as head of the Community executive and ensuring she retains the first part of the presidency of the European Parliament, which Roberta Metsola will hold again until January 2027.

To negotiate, each political family appoints two negotiators: Greek Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Polish Donald Tusk for the European People’s Party; Spanish Pedro Sánchez and German Olaf Scholz for the Party of European Socialists; and Belgian Alexander De Croo and Estonian Kaja Kallas for the Alliance of European Liberals and Democrats.

Main candidates

The European Social Democrats, the second force in last Sunday’s elections, on this occasion aspire to the second most valuable position in the distribution, the presidency of the European Council, for which the unwritten rule is that the person elected must be or have been the head of state or government of an EU country.

The main name on the table is that of former Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa, who has a very good relationship with von der Leyen, Sánchez and Macron despite being hampered by his legal situation.

The Portuguese prosecutor’s office is investigating him for alleged irregularities in his lithium, green hydrogen and data center businesses, but has not yet presented evidence against him, charged him or offered further explanations.

The head of European diplomacy, now in the hands of the Spanish Josep Borrell, would in principle go to a liberal candidate and name the Estonian Kaja Kallas, one of the strongest voices in the EU in favor of continued support for Ukraine and sanctioning Russia.

Being the only person on the shortlist from an eastern country works in his favour, although his very tough policy against the Kremlin could work against him.

In addition to the three big pro-European political families, the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, the winner of the European elections in her country, expressed the hope that Italy’s role would be “recognized” in the formation of the new leadership of the EU. And the desire of the majority of right-leaning voters is understandable