European leaders are meeting in Brussels for an informal summit, the first since the European elections, which is expected to to “lock in” the names for top EU positions.

From the very first statements of the European leaders upon their arrival, it was noticed that there is an early consensus around the names, of the German Ursula von der Leyen for a second term in the presidency of the European Commission, the Portuguese Antonio Costa in the presidency of the European Council, of Roberta Metzola as head of the European Parliament and Estonia Kaya Callas as head of foreign policy.

Initially, the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis and its Polish counterpart, Donald Tusk had talks with the German Chancellor, Olaf Solz and the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez.

Talks then followed between the EPP negotiators, the Socialists and Emmanuel Macron’s Renew Europe group for the selection of the persons who will take the top positions of the European Union.

THE Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Donald Tusk have a central role in the processes of the informal Summit as they are the two negotiators for the EPP, while respectively the heads of the negotiations for the socialists are the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the Spanish Pedro Sanchez. The French president Emmanuel Macron and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte are the main negotiators for the Liberals.

The European People’s Party will have the first say in the faces, as it kept its forces in the recent European elections and is the first party in Europe.

Upon his arrival, the Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, reaffirmed his support for the acting President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

In particular, when asked why he supports von der Leyen, Mr. Mitsotakis replied: “Because she was our candidate, because the EPP won the elections… And because she is a very good president of the Commission.”

From his side, the German chancellor, Olaf Scholzrefrained from answering whether he would support Ursula von der Leyen for a second term as president of the European Commission and instead stressed that he is “absolutely confident that we can reach an agreement as soon as possible”.

The Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchezalso did not answer a question about whether he would support Ursula von der Leyen for a second term as head of the Commission.

THE Roberta Metzola coming to the informal European Council, she submitted her candidacy for the presidency of the European Parliament, while when asked if she believes there will be a political agreement today for the top European positions, she expressed the hope that there will be.

“Democracy is very much alive. It seems that pro-European forces can continue to work together in the coming years in a demanding legislative period,” noted Roberta Metzola. He also underlined that the demands and results of the parliament should be taken into account for the election of the president of the European Commission “and I can confirm that the majority of political groups in the EP support the process of the lead candidate”, as he added.

At the same time, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, whose name was “circulating” for the presidency of the European Council, made it clear that she will not be a candidate, when asked about it upon her arrival at the informal European Council in Brussels.

“I think it’s still too early to talk about names, but in my view and Denmark’s approach, Ursula von der Leyen has done an excellent job,” emphasized Mette Frederiksen. He noted that “now we will meet all the leaders, but I think we need a quick decision because of what is happening in the world. We need strong EU leadership and I am sure we will find a good solution.”

Despite the informal meeting’s decision, it is up to the European Council to nominate the top EU officials and, under the EU Treaty, the decision should reflect the EU’s diversity in terms of geography, country size , gender and political beliefs.

The faces

These persons are Ursula von der Leyen, the former Prime Minister of Portugal Costa, the Prime Minister of Estonia Kaja Kalas (for the post of High Representative of the EU) and Roberta Metzola from Malta for a second term in the presidency of the European Parliament. It is therefore possible that there will already be a first political agreement today, which will then be formalized at the European Council of 27 and 28 June.

Based on the EU Treaty, the future President of the Commission must have the support of the European Council with a qualified majority (including 55% of the countries and 65% of the population) and then the European Parliament is called upon to approves him by secret ballot.

For the approval of the new president of the Commission by the new European Parliament, a simple majority is required, i.e. 361 votes from the total of 720 MEPs.

Based on the result of the June 9 European elections, the three political groups forming an informal coalition in the European Parliament are the European People’s Party (189 seats), the Socialists and Democrats (135 seats) and the Center-Liberals (79 seats). They have a total of 403 out of 720 seats, i.e. a comfortable majority, well above the threshold of 361 votes.