Yesterday several EU political heavyweights battled over who should replace European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker for the next five years. But so far EU heads of state have failed to decide who would even be nominated for the top job. Due to the political stalemate, EU chiefs have agreed to reconvene on June 30 to try again.
Even those in attendance failed to agree on how the summit went yesterday, with French President Emmanuel Macron believing some ground was made, but German Chancellor Angela Merkel said there was no majority for any of the leading candidates.
The talks went well into the night, due to feuding over how the successor will be chosen.
Theresa May was present at the summit, despite only having approximately five weeks left as the UK’s Prime Minister until a winner of the Conservative Party leadership race is crowned.
Today, EU chiefs are expected to discuss Brexit and some heads of state will doorstop.
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8.46am update: Xavier Bettel says there is ‘no majority’ in the European Parliament
Speaking to French journalists, Xavier Bettel said “there is no majority in the European Parliament”.
He said: “We saw it yesterday. We’ll see again next Sunday.
“Now we have to talk to the parties, the groups and the parliament. All options are open.
“I can’t tell you who will do this or that. All candidates have real chances.”
8.39am update: Luxembourg PM calls for election to decide on next EU chief
Xavier Bettel has said he is unhappy with the Spitzenkandidat system, and said: “You can’t tell me that it is a democratic, transparent procedure.”
Instead, the Luxembourg Prime Minister has called for a vote to decide on who takes the EU top jobs.
He said it should be the European citizens who decide, “and not the Council”.
8.27am update: Brussels will NOT renegotiate Brexit deal, says Luxembourg chief
Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel has said Brussels will not renegotitate a new Brexit deal, even with a new UK prime minister.
He said: “The decision is not taken in London, it is a deal we have done with Theresa May.
“It is the best possible deal. We will not start to renegotiate again without having a reason to delay.
“I am speaking about delaying, not renogotiating.”
He added that renegotiating the deal “is not possible”.
The EU leader said: “If you don’t agree with the decision in Brussels you will have again to change the leader of the Tories and again we will have to postpone the decision.”
8.15am update: Eurogroup President he wanted to make the EU ‘more resilient’
Eurogroup President Mário Centeno sidestepped Brexit this morning, instead saying he wanted to make the eurozone “more resilient to deal with future crisis”.
He also said the EU summit was an “important meeting”, adding he had “broad agreement” on the main details of the eurozone budget.
He said: “Europe needs leadership, clarity, a way to allow our economies and societies to continue to grow.
“The labour market has been performing quite outstandingly in our countries and we need to feed that in order to have a brighter future for Europe.
“We need to continue working on several details on the eurozone budget.”