UPDATED: No agreement so far at EU special summit, meeting postponed to Tuesday

UPDATED: EU leaders meeting in Brussels remain divided over who should get the EU’s top jobs, and talks have been suspended until Tuesday.

Earlier, according to Politico, leaders are discussing a package that would see Frans Timmermans installed as head of the Commission, Kristalina Georgieva as president of the European Council and Margrethe Vestager or Charles Michel as the EU’s foreign affairs chief, says a diplomat.

The leadership of the Parliament would be split between Manfred Weber and Guy Verhofstadt. sources expressed doubt that Weber would agree to split the European Parliament post with Verhofstadt.

Earlier, EU leaders meeting in Brussels remained divided over who should get the EU’s top jobs, including a successor to Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker.

Even before the meeting started, centre-right leaders from the EU’s biggest political group had played down the chances of agreement on Sunday on a new Commission president.

The centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) nominated Germany’s Manfred Weber for the top job.

He is the candidate under the “Spitzenkandidat” (lead candidate) procedure, which the European Parliament supports as a democratic way to reflect the European election outcome.

But while the EPP got the most votes in the May elections, it does not have a majority, and French President Emmanuel Macron is among those opposing the “Spitzenkandidat” system.

But the centre-right also oppose a plan to give the post to Dutch centre-left politician Frans Timmermans, currently a deputy to Juncker. Also, politicians in Poland, Hungary and Romania dislike the way Timmermans, a veteran of Brussels politics, has enforced the EU rule of law policy.

Soon after the working dinner began the talks were suspended.

Summit chair Donald Tusk decided to have a break for bilateral talks, and his spokesman said the summit would resume later.

Tusk was reported to be proposing Timmermans for the top job, as part of a balanced package. But there is intense national rivalry.

The rare Sunday summit was called because EU leaders failed on 20 June to agree on candidates for the Commission president’s job and other top posts: European Council president (to replace Donald Tusk); high representative for foreign policy (to replace Federica Mogherini); European Parliament president and European Central Bank president.

Tusk said that if necessary the talks will continue at breakfast on Monday.

Via BBC/Politico