Ane Barcos/Aquí Europa The main European political groups have reached an agreement to distribute the presidencies of the main institutions of the European Union. Ursula von der Leyen will repeat as head of the European Commission, António Costa will assume the presidency of the European Council and Kaja Kallas will be the next High Representative for Foreign Affairs. The decision, which was expected at the European Summit on June 27 and 28 in Brussels, has been brought forward to this Tuesday, when the six main negotiators of the political groups have reached in a video call the consensus that was missing in the informal meeting of leaders on June 17. The Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, and the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, negotiated on behalf of the European People's Party (EPP) with the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, representing the Socialists. The liberals, the third force in the European Parliament, joined these conversations, represented by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte. The names of Von der Leyen, Costa and Kallas were already on the negotiating table at the informal meeting. However, when it seemed that there was a consensus to distribute the senior positions, the EPP proposed to the socialists to divide the five-year term of the presidency of the European Council. The consensus leaves the outlook similar to that outlined before the meeting on the 17th: the EPP, as the first political force, would maintain the presidency of the European Commission with Ursula Von der Leyen in charge; the social democrats would get the first 2.5 years of the European Council mandate with Costa presiding; and Kaja Kallas, from the liberals, would be the next High Representative of the Union. However, the agreement will have to be ratified by a qualified majority at this week's European Council. It is still unknown what will happen to the second half of the term of the Council presidency. The fight between the Popular Party and the Socialists could continue, or Costa could serve the full five years of his term. Regarding the presidency of the European Parliament, everything seems to indicate that the also popular Roberta Metsola will repeat her term, since she was appointed president of the European Parliament in 2022 and, following a procedure similar to that of the European Council, the president of the European Parliament can be re-elected for a second consecutive term, which lasts two and a half years. However, to do so, an absolute majority must be secured in the vote that will take place at the July plenary session in Strasbourg.
