EU leaders agree on top posts, Ursula von der Leyen to continue as EC head

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz confirmed on Wednesday the three main centrist groups in the European Parliament (EP) had agreed on the top European Union posts, selecting Ursula von der Leyen for a second term as head of the EU’s powerful executive body.

In a speech to the German parliament assessing the fallout from this month’s EP elections, Scholz said the groups had also agreed Portuguese ex-premier Antonio Costa should be chair of meetings of EU national leaders and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas should be EU foreign policy chief.

The three groups combined had a majority in the European Parliament so he hoped “very much the European Council that meets tomorrow will reach this agreement,” he said, referring to the upcoming summit of EU national leaders.

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“We cannot afford to drag our feet in these difficult times. The citizens do not expect a dispute over posts, but rather quick work by the European institutions,” he said, noting it was “a good team and a clear decision for a good European future”.

Earlier on Wednesday, Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni criticised the plan to share out the top EU jobs among the three main groups, saying they ignored the success of right-wing parties in the EP elections. Her conservative Brothers of Italy party does not sit in one of the three main groups in the EP.

Scholz said the European Parliament elections had shown how multiple crises, from the coronavirus pandemic to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the war in the Middle East, had shattered trust in the EU and national governments.

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Populist parties, which performed strongly in the elections, are exploiting citizens’ concerns for their own ends, he said. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) came in second in the EP election in Germany, ahead of all three parties in Scholz’s fractious three-way coalition.

TURNING POINT

“The election result is therefore a turning point,” he said. “We must ensure that confidence grows again in Germany and Europe, and in many countries around the world.”

That meant providing actual solutions rather than simply railing against problems like the populists, he said, for example on irregular migration.

The chancellor cited a drop in asylum requests in the first few months of the year as well as an increase in deportations, which he put down to a tightening of German migration policy.

Earlier on Wednesday, the government agreed a draft law to make it easier to deport people for praising or promoting “terrorist crimes”.

Scholz long downplayed the strength of the AfD. But since it surged to second place in nationwide polls last year and sustained that position, he has started to address it publicly head-on. The AfD is on track to come first in three elections in the formerly Communist-run eastern Germany.

At their summit on Thursday, EU leaders will discuss Europe’s priorities for the coming years, Scholz said. These included security, competitiveness and economic growth, and reforms to make the bloc more effective.