EU Leaders Suspend Jobs Talks Until Tomorrow: Summit Update

(Bloomberg) -- European Union leaders suspended a summit to decide who to nominate at the helm of the EU’s executive, after failing to reach an agreement following all-night talks in Brussels. Agreeing on a candidate for that post is a key piece of the puzzle that includes all of the bloc’s other top positions, including Mario Draghi’s successor at the European Central Bank.

Must read: How Merkel’s Half-Baked Plan to Confer EU’s Top Job Hit a Snag

Key Developments:

• After all-night talks, the summit is suspended; talks to resume at 11 a.m. on Tuesday
• Dutch Socialist Frans Timmermans is still being discussed to take over the European Commission presidency
• Tusk canvassing for support after the EPP rebelled over the Timmermans plan
• Leaders are discussing how the center-right EPP and Liberals will divvy up the posts for European Council president and EU foreign-policy chief

Merkel Says With Goodwill a Deal Can Be Reached (1:30 p.m.)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that time is limited, but with the proper effort, an agreement is within reach.

“Politics is the attempt to realize the possible -- and sometimes that takes time,” Merkel told reporters after the summit broke up. “But if we had broken something over our knee, which wasn’t possible today, and then dealt with insurmountable tensions in the European Council over the next five years, we would be asked why we couldn’t give it another day and sleep over it and take one more look and see if something is possible.”

“We know it’s going to be complicated but I continue to hope that if there is goodwill on the part of everyone, it can be achieved,” she said.

EU Leaders Delay Jobs Summit Until Tuesday Around 11 A.M.

Preben Aamann, spokesman for the EU Council presidency, announced the suspension of the meeting on Twitter.

The Latest Line-up as Talks Drag on (12:02 p.m.)

Another name officials have been floating as part of a package deal that would see Timmermans get the top commission job, is German defense minister Ursula von der Leyen.

According to two officials familiar with the leaders’ discussion, her name has come up as a likely candidate to become the EU’s foreign policy chief -- one of the jobs in the package discussed on Monday. While that would give Angela Merkel’s EPP group one more key post, it would only work in a combination whereby the European Council Presidency would go to a member of the liberals.

That poses a few problems, however: the EPP’s top jobs would all be taken by Germans and the alliance would loose its claim to the European Council. Meanwhile, this package doesn’t really include any candidates from Eastern Europe and could further deepen the rift that Timmermans’ appointment could cause.

One of the officials suggested that in order to get more representation from Eastern Europe, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic could be given the commission vice presidency post.

In summary this is where things stand:

* European Commission President: Frans Timmermans (Socialist, the Netherlands)
* European Council President: Charles Michel (Liberal, Belgium)
* European Parliament President: Manfred Weber (center right, Germany)
* EU foreign policy chief: Ursula von der Leyen (center-right, Germany)
* European Commission First Vice President: Andrej Plenković (center-right, Croatia)
* European Central Bank President: a French female banker

EU’s ‘Osaka Accord’ Faces Two Main Hurdles (8:47 a.m.)

As the summit drags on for a second day, proponents of the Merkel-backed “Osaka accord” are battling on two fronts:

• First, an Eastern-led front of skeptics opposes the package as a whole, including its central element that would see Frans Timmermans at the helm of the European Commission. This group of countries is within striking distance of a blocking minority to the deal, and Tusk is reluctant to put the accord to a vote, both because of the optics of division and the real risk of it being rejected.
• Second, some of those center-right leaders who reluctantly accepted the crux of the plan are vying for the presidency of the EU Council as compensation for waiving their claim to the commission. Under the Osaka accord, the European People’s Party would only get the presidency of the European Parliament, a largely symbolic role, and the post of the foreign-policy chief. But Liberals are unwilling to swap the EU Council presidency with the foreign-policy role.

Merkel Huddles With Center-Right Leaders (8:01 a.m.)

Merkel met with her allies from the EPP before the full session with all 28 leaders resumed. Some from Merkel’s group were still objecting to Timmermans, officials said.

France and Germany are encouraging EU President Donald Tusk to declare that there’s a consensus in support of the Dutchman so as to avoid a vote, one of the officials added. If Tusk allows a secret ballot to take place it will be less awkward for Timmermans’s opponents to block his candidacy.

The Former Foreign Minister Everyone’s Talking About (7:47 a.m.)

Frans Timmermans, deputy to Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s for the past five years, would be the first Socialist to lead the bloc’s executive since the late 1980s.

In his current role, the Dutchman has run into conflict with Hungary and Poland over his tough stance on rule of law issues. Eastern European countries were at the forefront of opposing his candidacy for president. He’s been an outspoken critic of Brexit and suggested several times that the U.K. should have the opportunity to change its mind.

The 58-year-old speaks several languages fluently, including English, French and German, so is considered an ideal fit. Yet, having worked in Brussels only since 2014, he isn’t seen as part of the European establishment.

Leaders Stuck on Who Gets European Council Post (6:05 a.m.)

Further complicating a resolution among the leaders is deciding which party will lay claim to the presidency of the European Council and the position of the EU’s foreign-policy chief. At the moment, discussions are centering on how the center-right EPP and the Liberals will divvy up the posts.

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and his Belgian counterpart Charles Michel are two names that have been mentioned in the past 24 hours for the council job, which runs the meetings of EU leaders.

EU Leaders Are Gravitating Toward Timmermans Again (4:51 a.m.)

EU leaders appear to be coalescing around the so-called Osaka accord that would see Timmermans head the commission, according to two officials familiar with the matter.

There’s still opposition to the plan, though not enough to block it, and EU President Donald Tusk is making a last-ditch attempt to broaden its appeal instead of putting it to a vote. Complicating things further, the deal would rest on a wafer-thin majority in the parliament unless some center-right lawmakers break ranks to support it.

Though with Merkel endorsing the package, you’d expect her German contingent to provide support.

Tusk Meets With Every Single EU Leader (3:23 a.m.)

EU President Donald Tusk, who leads the summits, is holding a marathon series of meetings -- sitting down with every EU leader one-on-one to run through the options. He’s still discussing the so-called Osaka accord which would see center-left mandarin Frans Timmermans running the European Commission and several other plans which would see the job go to a center-right officials such Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier or World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva. None of the options is without disadvantages and the all-nighter could still lead nowhere.

Macron Is Still Pushing Timmermans (3:10 a.m.)

French President Emmanuel Macron is still trying to win support for Timmermans’s bid, after striking a deal with Merkel at the G-20 meeting in Osaka over the weekend. A person familiar with the French position said Macron’s team think that some members of Merkel’s political clan were put out because they weren’t consulted on the deal ahead of time.

France still considers the ECB presidency as a viable target, the person added. Paris would prefer that a woman gets the ECB role, the person said, adding that several French women would be qualified for the job and IMF chief Christine Lagarde could be a candidate. France isn’t actively promoting its ECB candidates at this point and that piece of the jigsaw will depend on whether another Frenchman, Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, becomes head of the commission.

Officials Are Dusting Off Their Other Candidates (9:00 p.m.)

With the Timmermans plan in trouble, diplomats at the summit are reviving other names who’ve been touted for the job in recent weeks: Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier is also from the EPP, as is World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva and Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic. IMF chief Christine Lagarde is another EPP member who’s name has been floated, though most agree she’s a long shot.

More on the Revolt at the EPP (7:25 p.m.)

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said the EPP should still be backing its own candidate Manfred Weber, whatever Merkel says.

"Merkel is leader of the CDU, not the EPP," he told reporters.

Given the divisions, he predicted there will be no decision tonight.

Merkel’s Group Not Happy About Timmermans (6:29 p.m.)

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said there was a lot of opposition to Merkel’s plan to hand the commission presidency to a Socialist Frans. Merkel was essentially the only one to defend the idea at their pre-summit meeting, two officials said. It was an eye-opening development for the German chancellor, one of the officials added.

Antonio Tajani, the outgoing president of the EU Assembly, who’s also a Christian Democrat said before the summit that he’s not going to support a socialist candidate for the commission.

“As the EPP we haven’t agreed to the package that was negotiated in Osaka," Varadkar said. "The vast majority of the prime ministers don’t believe that we should give up the presidency of the commission quite so easily, without a fight. And secondly, a lot of the countries in central and eastern Europe are opposed to Timmermans."

It is practically impossible to garner the majority required to approve any nomination by EU leaders, without the backing of the EPP at the European Parliament.

Luxembourg Wants a Woman for ECB Job (6:05 p.m.)

Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel went into the meeting "convinced" that the leaders will find a deal tonight. Sticking to his priority for gender-balanced choices for the top EU roles to fill, Bettel said he would be happy to have two men and two women. In fact, he said leaders should also agree that they’ll eventually pick a female candidate to lead the European Central Bank.

Merkel Says Talks Will be Long and Difficult (5:36 p.m.)

It’ll be a long night in Brussels, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel said on her way in to the summit. “As things are shaping up, this won’t be a very simple negotiation, to put it mildly," she said, citing the lack of a clear majority for either group in parliament. "We’ll try to be constructive, but I’ll say once again that it’s very important for me to avoid an inter-institutional conflict, between the council and the parliament, so this will take a while.”

Czech Leader Says Timmermans Won’t Unite Europe (4:57 p.m.

The prime minister of the Czech Republic, Andrej Babis, said Timmermans isn’t the right person to unite Europe and added that more of an effort has to be made to find gender parity in the top EU positions.

“Where are the women?’’ Babis said. “We need women.’’

Still, the four Visegrad countries from the East -- the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia -- don’t have the votes to block Timmermans, even if Italy joins them. They would need at least one more big country like the U.K. as well -- and Theresa May says she intends to play a "constructive" role at the summit.

Macron Says No ECB Decision Expected (4:32 p.m.)

French President Emmanuel Macron said he’s confident a compromise will be reached on who will succeed European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. However, the decision on Mario Draghi’s successor will be taken after the political posts, which also include the presidency of the European Council and the EU’s foreign-policy chief, have been filled. “It’s mandatory” to pick at least two women for the bloc’s top jobs, Macron said, adding that geographical balance between east and west must also be respected.

Timmermans Bid Faces Headwinds in EU Parliament (4:13 p.m.)

Outgoing European Parliament President Antonio Tajani says it would be “impossible” for his center-right party at the EU assembly to back a socialist candidate for the commission presidency. Without support from the European People’s Party, it would be extremely difficult for a candidate to gain the required assembly approval for the position.

Slovakia Opposes Timmermans (4:06 p.m.)

Slovakia confirmed it will stick with the so-called Visegrad camp of Eastern member states opposing Timmermans’s bid for the European Commission, according to a government official, who added it’s too early to say who they would endorse.

Hungary Opposes Timmermans (3:36 p.m.)

Hungary vowed to do “everything possible” to sink Timmermans’s candidacy and said his election would be “completely unacceptable,” government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said on Twitter on Sunday.

The possibility of Timmermans taking over the European Commission is a nightmare scenario for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who’s been the target of the Dutchman for his unprecedented erosion of the rule of law in the ex-communist country in the nearly one decade since his return to power.

Belgium’s Michel Considered for Top Post (2:45 p.m.)

The opening proposal ahead of today’s summit would see Timmermans at the helm of the European Commission and Belgium’s Liberal Prime Minister Charles Michel at the top of the European Council, chairing the meetings of the bloc’s leaders, according to an official briefed on a meeting between Donald Tusk and EU lawmakers in Brussels on Sunday.

The center-right’s lead candidate for the commission, Manfred Weber, would instead be appointed president of the European Parliament, while Bulgaria’s Mariya Gabriel, also a Christian Democrat, would become the bloc’s foreign-policy chief, according to the plan. Momentum is building behind this proposal, including by EU lawmakers, according to the official. Yet some member states, mostly in the east, resist. EU’s political parties are holding pre-summit meetings in Brussels to decide how to respond to the opening proposal.

EU Lawmakers Briefed on Summit Discussion (1:49 p.m.)

Donald Tusk told European Union lawmakers that the starting point for discussions at Sunday’s summit would be for a Socialist to get the top post at the bloc’s executive arm, according to three people with knowledge of the comments.

The remarks by Tusk, who will chair the gathering of EU government heads, boosts the chances that Timmermans will succeed Jean-Claude Juncker as European Commission president in November. Timmermans, a Dutchman, is the official Socialist candidate for the post.

In the scenario outlined by Tusk to key European Parliament members, a Christian Democrat would get the post of president of the 28-nation assembly and a Liberal would succeed Tusk as the chair of the bloc’s summits, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the remarks were private.

A Christian Democrat would also get the job of EU foreign-policy chief, one of the people said.

--With assistance from Ben Sills, Caroline Alexander, Raymond Colitt, Ian Wishart, Viktoria Dendrinou, Helene Fouquet, Lyubov Pronina, Alexander Weber, Zoltan Simon, Zoe Schneeweiss, Jonathan Stearns, Nikos Chrysoloras, Stephanie Bodoni, Patrick Donahue, Marine Strauss, Slav Okov and Jasmina Kuzmanovic.

To contact the reporters on this story: Milda Seputyte in Vilnius at mseputyte@bloomberg.net;Jan Bratanic in Ljubljana at jbratanic@bloomberg.net;Viktoria Dendrinou in Brussels at vdendrinou@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.