Haggling begins to find new EC chief

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk arrive at the informal dinner of heads of states and government of the EU at Council headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, 27 May: photo - EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET

The new European Parliament said in a statement that Jean Claude Juncker has been put forward as a candidate for the job of leading one of the EU's legislative bodies by the winning group in Sunday's elections, the centre-right European People's Party (EPP).

PM Donald Tusk – whose Civic Platform party is a member of the EPP – said that EU leaders from the 28 member states have authorised leader of the European Council, Herman van Rompuy to lead negotiations on candidates.

Under new rules, the EU leadership must “take into account” the wishes of the European Parliament when choosing the new president of the European Commission, a post currently occupied by Jose Manuel Barroso.

After Sunday's elections, the centre-right EPP has a majority in the assembly with 213 MEPs, followed by the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) with 191 and the liberals (ALDE) with 64.

Donald Tusk said that there was no appetite for tough negotiations at the informal summit on Tuesday night.

“Some [leaders] were filled with victory, others were upset after defeats in the elections, so there was no mood to discuss too much,” Tusk told reporters.

Many governments were rocked by election results for the European parliament after victories for anti-EU candidates in France, the UK and elsewhere.

“Overall, voters sent a strong message, and this message was at the heart of our discussions tonight,” a statement by Herman van Rompuy says. (pg)