Germany's Ursula von der Leyen nominated to lead EU Commission

Brussels, July 3: European Union (EU) leaders have put forward their nominations for the bloc's top jobs, with a woman proposed as European Commission Chief for the first time. German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen has been nominated for the post to replace Jean-Claude Juncker. The nomination came after the main front-runners were rejected.

 

Ursula was backed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel but there was resistance to her nomination within the German coalition. Chief of International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde has been nominated as the first woman to head the European Central Bank.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel is nominated to replace European Council President Donald Tusk, while Spain's Foreign Minister Josep Borrell is proposed as Foreign Policy Chief.

In all, EU leaders were tasked with nominating five people for the top jobs.

The fifth key role - President of the European Parliament - is to be chosen tomorrow. Possible candidates include German centre-right MEP Manfred Weber and Bulgarian socialist Sergei Stanishev.

On the other side, European Council President Donald Tusk has said, the bloc's new leadership would not change course and offer concessions on the Brexit deal struck with London. Tusk said a change in leadership did not mean a change of approach.

Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt, running to succeed British Prime Minister Theresa May said earlier that they wanted to renegotiate Brexit deal with European Union.