After three days of wrangling, European leaders have agreed which top jobs should go to who. Ursula von der Leyen, Germany’s centre-right defence minister, will become President of the European Commission, replacing Jean-Claude Juncker. Belgium’s Prime Minister, centre-leftish Charles Michel, will become President of the European Council, replacing Donald Tusk. Josep Borrell, Spain’s foreign minister, becomes the EU’s high representative in charge of foreign affairs, replacing Federica Mogherini in the role that may well go down in history as the last top EU job held by a Briton. (Catherine Ashton, trivia fans!) And at the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, head of the IMF and finance minister under Nicolas Sarkozy, will replace Mario Draghi.
Although the accord has been signed off by the leaders of member states, it must still be ratified by the European Parliament, and von der Leyen’s nomination in particular is still the subject of fierce opposition in the parliament.
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