Despite the reported agreement, the decision will not be made official until a summit of 27 leaders later this week.
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Six European Union leaders, acting as negotiators for the main centrist parties, have reached a provisional agreement on the allocation of top EU posts after June’s general election.
The news was first reported by German news agency dpa and later confirmed to Euronews by diplomatic sources.
The agreement follows three other candidates already announced: Ursula von der Leyen for European Commission President, Antonio Costa for European Council President and Kaja Kallas for High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
The package had already been finalised at an informal meeting of EU leaders last week and was given final approval in a conference call between Poland’s Donald Tusk, Greece’s Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Germany’s Olaf Scholz, Spain’s Pedro Sanchez, France’s Emmanuel Macron and the Netherlands’ Mark Rutte.
Tusk and Mitsotakis represent the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), Scholz and Sanches represent the Social Democrats (S&D), and Macron and Rutte represent the liberal Renew Europe family, which are expected to work together to forge a durable coalition to support von der Leyen’s second term.
“Negotiators from the three political groups reached a common position in accordance with the treaty,” the diplomat said, asking not to be named.
Officials in Brussels were eager to wrap up the discussions relatively quickly due to the volatile geopolitical environment plaguing the EU, and the lack of a credible alternative accelerated this process, which is essentially a game of politics, geography and gender balance.
The selection for the top job must be approved by all 27 leaders at a crucial summit later this week, when the strategic agenda for the next five years will also be approved.
Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, Czech Republic’s Peter Fiala and Hungary’s Viktor Orban are not part of the pro-European Union but have previously expressed dissatisfaction with the way the three centrist families negotiated the prime ministerial appointment.
“The agreement the European People’s Party has made with the left and liberals goes against all the foundations of the EU. It sows the seeds of division, not inclusion,” Orban said on Tuesday, ratcheting up his frustration.
The decision would be made by qualified majority vote, meaning national vetoes would not apply, but Meloni’s influence in the European Council could still influence face-to-face talks on Thursday and delay a final announcement.
If Ms von der Leyen and Ms Kallas are ultimately appointed they will still have to undergo a hearing in the European Parliament, while Mr Costa, a former Portuguese prime minister, will be automatically selected by his former colleagues.
Last week, the European People’s Party surprised the Socialists by demanding that Costa take over the European Council Presidency at the end of his two-and-a-half-year term. Euronews understands that this demand has been dropped, paving the way for Portugal’s Socialists to run the European Council for five years.
Costa is implicated in a corruption investigation that led to his resignation last year. Although he has not been formally charged, his involvement in fraudulent transactions has yet to be revealed. He has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing.
