Brussels: After three days of arduous negotiations, European Union leaders have broken a deadlock and nominated German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen to become the new president of the bloc's powerful executive arm, the European Commission.

She will take over from Jean-Claude Juncker for the next five years.

European Council president Donald Tusk said in a series of tweets on Tuesday that Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel would take over from him in the (northern) autumn.

Frenchwoman Christine Lagarde was proposed as president of the European Central Bank, while Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell was nominated to become EU foreign policy chief, meaning he would be charged with supervising the Iran nuclear deal, among other duties. </s> Image copyright Reuters Image caption Ursula von der Leyen was backed by Angela Merkel but there was resistance to her nomination within the German coalition

EU leaders have put forward their nominations for the bloc's top jobs, with a woman for the first time proposed as European Commission chief.

The surprise choice of German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen to replace Jean-Claude Juncker came after the main front-runners were rejected.

IMF chief Christine Lagarde has been nominated as the first woman to head the European Central Bank (ECB).

The announcement follows days of difficult negotiations.

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

Belgian liberal Prime Minister Charles Michel is nominated to replace European Council President Donald Tusk while Spain's Josep Borrell is proposed as foreign policy chief.

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

Most of the roles must be ratified by the European Parliament.

Is everyone happy with the choices?

"We have agreed the whole package before the first session of the European Parliament," said Mr Tusk.

He said Germany had abstained on Mrs von der Leyen's nomination over coalition issues but pointed out that Chancellor Angela Merkel herself had backed her.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the nominations were "the fruit of a deep Franco-German entente".

"Von der Leyen is a very good candidate and a very good choice to head the European Commission," he told reporters, adding that Ms Lagarde's "capacities and competences... totally qualified her" for the ECB.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Donald Tusk announces choices for top European Commission jobs

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said the nomination of two women for key jobs sent a powerful message that the EU was leading the way towards gender equality.

However, there were concerns that the European Parliament's own contest for the main job - the "Spitzenkandidaten" (lead candidate) process - had been cast aside. Neither the winner of that process, Manfred Weber of Germany, nor other frontrunners were selected by EU leaders.

"You have to compromise in politics," Mr Varadkar insisted, adding that the centre-right Mr Weber would most likely be given the shared presidency of the European Parliament along with a Socialist figure.

There was also surprise that four of the main jobs had gone to Western Europeans, with no nominations from Eastern Europe.

However, the eastern states are thought to have been strongly behind Mrs von der Leyen's nomination, having rejected a compromise involving Dutch Labour leader Frans Timmermans the night before.

Days of indecision reveal EU power shift

Ursula von der Leyen - if confirmed as new European Commission president - will not bring winds of change to Brussels. She's loyal to the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a true Christian Democrat and a conservative Europhile.

As for Brexit, remember, the European Commission negotiated on behalf of EU member states. Those negotiations ended when the UK government signed off on the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement back in November.

The only ones now with the legal power to change or add to the text are EU national leaders, not the commission. And what these days of indecision among national leaders over these top EU jobs have shown us is that while France and Germany are still powerful, they are not all-powerful in EU circles any more.

Chancellor Merkel and President Macron were unable to impose on others the EU job allocation plan agreed between them at the G20. Something for the new UK prime minister to consider, perhaps, ahead of planning trips to Berlin and Paris to request a renegotiation of the Brexit deal.

The nominees in full

Ursula von der Leyen - European Commission president

Image copyright EPA

What's the job? The EU commission president heads the executive branch, sets the policy agenda and controls a cabinet of commissioners.

Who is she? Born in Brussels, Mrs von der Leyen, 60, and her family moved to Germany when she was 13. She studied economics at London's LSE and medicine in Hanover before going into politics.

She has been a member of Mrs Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) since 2005.

If Mrs von der Leyen is confirmed in the role it would be the first time in more than 60 years that a German has been given the post.

Christine Lagarde - head of the European Central Bank

Image copyright AFP

What's the job? Running the ECB, which is responsible for the euro and the monetary policy of the eurozone. The role is currently filled by Mario Draghi, who was widely credited with saving the euro during the eurozone debt crisis.

Who is she? Ms Lagarde, 63, who is French, was the first woman to head the International Monetary Fund (IMF) when she took the job in 2011.

She studied in the US before graduating from law school in Paris and obtaining a Masters degree from the Political Science Institute in Aix en Provence

She was appointed France's trade minister in 2005 and finance minister in 2007.

Charles Michel - European Council president

Image copyright Reuters

What's the job? Chairs the body made up of the leaders of EU member states which defines the EU's political direction.

Who is he? In 2014 Mr Michel at the age of 38 became Belgium's youngest prime minister since 1841.

He has been a lawyer at the Brussels Bar since 1998 and a member of the Belgian parliament since 1999.

Mr Michel's father, Louis Michel, has also been a prominent politician and an MEP.

Josep Borrell - EU foreign policy chief

Image copyright EPA

What's the job? Co-ordinating and representing foreign and security policy for the EU. The brief is currently held by Italy's Federica Mogherini.

Who is he? The 72-year-old Spanish foreign minister is set to make a return to the top tier of EU politics after serving as European Parliament president from 2004 to 2007.

He began his career as a member of the Spanish Socialist Party in 1975 and has a reputation for plain speaking. </s> After three days of arduous negotiations, European Union leaders broke a deadlock Tuesday and nominated German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen to become the new president of the bloc’s powerful executive arm, the European Commission, and take over from Jean-Claude Juncker for the next five years.

European Council President Donald Tusk said in a series of tweets that Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel would take over from him in the fall.

Frenchwoman Christine Lagarde was proposed as president of the European Central Bank, while Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell was nominated to become EU foreign policy chief, meaning he would be charged with supervising the Iran nuclear deal, among other duties.

Only Mr. Michel can take up his post in November without other formalities. The others, notably Ms. von der Leyen, must be endorsed by the European Parliament. The assembly sits in Strasbourg, France on Wednesday to elect its own new president.

“It is important that we were able to decide with great unity today, and that is important because it’s about our future ability to work.” German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters after the nominations decided away from the cameras and media in a long series of meetings were made public.

Several lawmakers have already objected to the leaders’ package of nominations, and it remains to be seen whether the parliament will flex new found muscles following the massive turnout for EU-wide elections in May. Party leaders have said the vote has brought the assembly the EU’s only elected institution even more democratic legitimacy.

“It won’t be easy in parliament,” said Mr. Juncker, who steps down on Oct. 31 as head of the commission, which proposes and enforces EU laws.

Mr. Tusk said “it was worth waiting for such an outcome” and that he would do his best to explain to what could well be a tetchy parliament on Thursday how the nominations were made and what thought processes went into the move.

“It’s always a huge question mark. This is why we have parliaments,” Mr. Tusk said, with a wry smile.

Ms. Von der Leyen would be the first woman in the commission job, and Ms. Merkel said this is “a good sign.”

So would Ms. Lagarde currently chair of the International Monetary Fund and she would serve for up to eight years if her nomination is endorsed.

“That’s a very important statement that Europe leads on gender equality,” Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said.

“It might have taken three days, but it’s a good outcome overall,” he told reporters.

The nominations came after one of the longest summits in recent years, outstripping even all-night negotiations during the Greek debt crisis.

Already plagued by crises like Brexit and deep divisions among nations over how best to manage migration, the leaders had been keen to show that they could take quick decisions and that the European project remains important to its citizens.

But they struggled to establish a delicate balance between population size and geography an even mix of countries from the north and south, east and west, and ensure that at least two women were nominated. Tusk he said he hoped that someone from a central or eastern European member state would be voted in as president of the European Parliament.

Despite deep tensions, some tantrums by leaders behind the scenes and even public criticism of his handling of the summit, Tusk said- “Five years ago we needed three months to decide, and still some leaders were against. This year it was three days and nobody was against.” </s> BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany’s Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen is being touted by Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, as a potential successor to Jean-Claude Juncker as head of the European Commission, Die Welt reported on Tuesday.

According to the newspaper, the conservative von der Leyen, a close ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel, would be the president of the bloc’s executive. Christine Lagarde, currently head of the International Monetary Fund, was being considered for the presidency of the European Central Bank, it added.

Other candidates being discussed included Belgium’s Prime Minister Charles Michel as a possible successor to Tusk as European Council president, the newspaper said. Slovakia’s Maros Sefcovic was being considered for the role of EU foreign policy head, it added. </s> Italian Sassoli for the EP, French Lagarde candidate for the ECB, German Ursula von der Leyen candidate for the EC

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel was named the new president of the European Council

David-Maria Sassoli, an Italian politician from the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats has been elected the European Parliament President.

The European Parliament had to hold a second round of voting for the president, because none of the four candidates secured a majority in the first round.

Christine Lagarde of the International Monetary Fund was submitted as a candidate for president of the European Central Bank (ECB).

Her nomination will need the support of the European Parliament and the ECB’s Governing Council.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel was named the new president of the European Council.

The European Council chose the German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen as a candidate for president of the European Commission but she needs the majority of the European Parliament at the July 16th voting to head the EC. </s> David-Maria Sassoli, an Italian politician from the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats has been elected the European Parliament President.

​In the first round of voting, Sassoli received 325 votes. Jan Zahradil, a Czech politician from the European Conservatives and Reformists, received 162 votes. Ska Keller, a German politician of the Greens, secured 133 votes. Spaniard Sira Rego of the European United Left-Nordic Green Left garnered 42 votes.

Sassoli secured 345 votes in the second ballot. The absolute majority required is 334 votes.

A day earlier, EU leaders announced their picks to head key EU institutions after days of wrangling.

The European Council chose German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen as a candidate for president of the European Commission. She will need the backing of a majority at the European Parliament to head the commission.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel was named the new president of the European Council.

Christine Lagarde of the International Monetary Fund was submitted as a candidate for president of the European Central Bank (ECB). Her nomination needs support from the European Parliament and the ECB's Governing Council.

Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borell is considered as a candidate for High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. He will be confirmed by the Commission's president-elect.​ </s> Ursula von der Leyen has been confirmed as the new European Commission President.

The European Parliament voted 383-327 with 22 abstentions on to approve Ms von der Leyen’s nomination. The confirmation required an absolute majority of 374 votes.

She said: “I feel so honoured and I am overwhelmed. The task ahead of us humbles me.”

The outgoing German defence minister was nominated by EU leaders as part over an overall appointments package, but still needed the backing of the parliament.

She was a last-minute candidate and many MEPs were angry none of their lead candidates were picked for the job.

She said: “My message to all of you is: let us work together constructively.”

Ms Von der Leyen set out her political objectives on a greener, gender-equal Europe where the rule of law continues to hold sway earlier in the day.

Her approval was a key part in the package of top jobs that EU leaders agreed upon early this month.

Under the deal, the free-market liberal Renew Europe group got Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel as European Council President and the Socialists won the top parliament job. France’s Christine Lagarde was put forward as head of the European Central Bank.

Ms Von der Leyen told MEPs in Strasbourg that the gender element will be an essential part of her job.

“I will ensure full gender equality” in her team of 28 commissioners.

Pointing out that since its inception in 1958, less than 20% of commissioners had been women, she said: “We represent half of our population. We want our fair share.”

Prior to the vote, some MEPs voiced their anger that they were sidelined in the appointment process. Their candidates for the commission post, arguably the most important of all the jobs, were all rejected by the EU leaders. </s> Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Brexit Party MEPs turned their backs as Ode to Joy was performed

The European Parliament has re-opened in Strasbourg with an anti-EU protest by the UK's Brexit Party and a demonstration by Catalan nationalists whose MEPs are barred.

The first session after Europe-wide elections in May began as EU leaders went into a third day of talks on who should fill the bloc's top jobs.

A plan emerged on Tuesday to nominate German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen as Commission president.

An earlier compromise deal collapsed.

Ms Von der Leyen is being considered for the top job, while Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel is being considered for the key role of president of the European Council, according to German website Die Welt and other reports.

Christine Lagarde is being cited as a possible new head of the European Central Bank. The French head of the International Monetary Fund served as economy minister during Nicolas Sarkozy's presidency.

What happened at the parliament?

Hundreds of Catalan demonstrators protested that three separatist figures were unable to take their seats, as inside the chamber fellow MEPs placed photos of the missing members on their desks.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Protesters waved Catalan flags outside parliament

Ex-Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and colleague Toni Comin were barred from taking their seats because they had fled to Brussels after a banned referendum on independence went ahead and had not attended a swearing-in ceremony in Madrid as required. Another separatist leader, Oriol Junqueras, is in detention and on trial in Spain.

Irish Sinn Féin MEP Matt Carthy warned that the parliament's credibility would be undermined if it did not stand up for the voters of Catalonia.

As outgoing speaker Antonio Tajani convened the new session, MEPs rose for the EU's anthem, Beethoven's Ode to Joy, accompanied by a saxophone quartet. But not everyone stood, and anti-EU MEPs from the UK's Brexit Party turned their backs on the rendition.

"Rising to your feet is a matter of respect," said Mr Tajani. "It does not mean that you necessarily share the views of the European Union. Even when you listen to the anthem of another country you rise to your feet."

Their action came after party leader Nigel Farage promised a spirit of "cheerful defiance".

Pro-EU Liberal Democrats staged their own stunt, wearing "Stop Brexit" T-shirts.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Among the new intake was Italy's former prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, 82

Will there be a summit deal?

EU leaders reconvened in Brussels for their third consecutive day after a reported compromise deal that would have seen Dutch Labour leader Frans Timmermans head the Commission with centre-right Bulgarian Kristalina Georgieva taking the other key job of European Council president.

That deal fell apart when the four Visegrad states of Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia blocked the plan, with the backing of Italy. Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said Mr Timmermans was "unacceptable" and a "total catastrophe".

A new compromise emerged after hours of phone diplomacy involving EU leaders and outgoing Council President Donald Tusk, who was seen heading for the talks with his mobile phone to his ear.

After Italy's Giuseppe Conte said he would be very happy with a woman as Commission president, that idea gained ground when Ursula von der Leyen emerged as a possible candidate. She has not been considered a front-runner so far.

Why is it so hard to find a solution?

Political horse-trading has always been part of choosing the names for the top EU jobs, but EU elections at the end of May have shifted influence away from the two biggest groups in the European Parliament, the centre-right EPP and the Socialists and Democrats (S&D).

If the main post does go to the German defence minister, it is a defeat for the EPP's candidate Manfred Weber, but still a result for the party and for Angela Merkel's ruling CDU.

It is not just the Commission presidency that is part of the discussion. The leaders also need to agree on four other top posts:

European Council president (to replace Donald Tusk)

High Representative for foreign policy (to replace Federica Mogherini)

European Parliament president

European Central Bank president

The European Parliament will elect its president on Wednesday, placing further pressure on the EU leaders. MEPs will also have to approve the leaders' eventual nomination for Commission chief. </s> The Latest: Von der Leyen ready for further Brexit extension

BRUSSELS (AP) — The Latest on the EU parliament vote on Commission President (all times local):

Ursula von der Leyen, the candidate to succeed Jean-Claude Juncker as head of the EU executive, says she would grant another extension to the Brexit deadline if Britain needed it to assure an orderly withdrawal from the bloc.

Britain is slated to leave the bloc on Oct. 31, which is already a half-year delay from the original departure date.

Britain, however, has been wracked by internal division over the terms of departure agreed with the EU.

"I stand ready for a further extension of the withdrawal date should more time be required," she told EU lawmakers Tuesday.

Boris Johnson, the favorite to succeed outgoing British Prime Minister Theresa May, has said that he wants to leave the EU on Oct. 31, with or without an agreement.

Outgoing German defense minister Ursula von der Leyen is seeking to woo enough legislators at the European Parliament to secure the job of European Commission President in a secret vote late Tuesday.

The Christian Democrat of the European People's Party is promising the parliamentarians she will put climate and social issues at the heart of her program over the next five years as she seeks to gather the requisite 374 votes out of 747.

Von der Leyen was a last-minute candidate to succeed Jean-Claude Juncker that the EU leaders agreed on as part of a package of top jobs that were decided on early this month.

Under the package, the free-market liberal Renew Europe group got Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel as Council President and the Socialists won the top parliament job. </s> The European Parliament confirmed Ursula von der Leyen as EU Commission president in a secret ballot on Tuesday. She succeeds Jean-Claude Juncker to become the first woman to head the commission, which oversees policies for 500 million Europeans.

Von der Leyen received 383 of 747 votes, surpassing the 374 needed to secure the presidency. There were 22 abstentions and one blank vote cast.

Germany's defense minister emerged as the favourite to head the European Commission at the 11th hour of an epic EU emergency summit on July 2. The surprise announcement came after weeks of intense wrangling between EU leaders, which, until the final hours of a three-day emergency summit, had centered on three completely different candidates: German conservative Manfred Weber, Dutch Socialist Frans Timmermans and Danish liberal Margrethe Vestager.

Von der Leyen’s last-minute nomination saved EU leaders from having to hand over the crucial pick to the EU Parliament but resulted in them circumventing the so-called “spitzenkandidaten” process, a system in which the main party blocs in the European Parliament nominate their lead candidates.

To the frustration of many lawmakers, von der Leyen was also an EU institution outsider and widely seen as someone chosen from behind closed doors, a compromise between French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Once seen as Merkel successor

Von der Leyen, 60, was born in Brussels as one of eight children to Ernst Albrecht, one of Europe’s first civil servants. When she was 13, the family moved to Germany, where von der Leyen went on to study economics at the University of Göttingen. In 1978 she was forced to spend more than a year in hiding in London after her family learned that the far-left militant group, the notorious Baader-Meinhof gang, planned to kidnap her in order to extort her father. While in London, von der Leyen lived under the fake name “Rose Ladson” and studied at the London School of Economics.

In 1979 she returned to Germany, where she trained as a doctor and went on to work in a women’s clinic in Hanover until she and her husband, Professor Heiko von der Leyen, started a family. Throughout much of the 1990s she took a break from her career to be a stay-at-home mum to care for the couple’s seven children. During this time, the family also spent four years in Stanford, California.

After returning to Germany, von der Leyen got involved in local politics. In the early 2000s she joined Merkel’s conservative Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) party. When Merkel took office in 2005, she joined the federal cabinet as a family affairs minister, and between 2009 and 2013 she worked as a labour and social affairs minister. Von der Leyen is the only minister to have served continuously in Merkel’s government and was long seen as the likely successor to the chancellor.

In 2013, von der Leyen was appointed Germany’s first female defence minister, but problems involving failing army equipment and shortcomings within military training quickly saw her popularity plummet. Her reputation received an even bigger blow when the defence ministry was accused of ignoring the public procurement process when allocating multimillion-euro contracts to external companies, including to the firm where her son works. A recent poll by Germany’s Bild am Sonntag newspaper showed that von der Leyen was the second-least-popular member of Merkel’s cabinet.

On Monday she said she would resign from her defence ministry post no matter what the EU decided.

Internationally, however, von der Leyen – who speaks fluent French and English – has built up a strong profile advocating greater EU integration, pushing for what she calls the "United States of Europe".

Her stance seems to have impressed French President Macron in particular, who has repeatedly praised her for having “the DNA of the European community” and lauded her for her cooperation on Franco-German defence issues.

On the eve of EU lawmakers voting on her nomination for the commission's top post, von der Leyen attempted to shore up support by announcing a raft of economic, environmental and social reforms.

In letters to lawmakers, von der Leyen pledged to back a guaranteed EU minimum wage as well as an unemployment benefit scheme. She also said she would advocate more flexibility in the interpretation of EU budget rules. In addition, she said she would seek a cut in EU carbon emissions of up to 55 percent by 2030 and promised an overhaul of the bloc’s migration and foreign policies.
The European Council nominates German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen to replace Jean-Claude Juncker as President of the European Commission. If confirmed by the European Parliament, she will be the first woman to hold the position. The Council also nominates Charles Michel of Belgium as President of the European Council, Josep Borrell of Spain as High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and Christine Lagarde of France as President of the European Central Bank.