He’ll be waving goodbye to his job soon but the ability to decide who should replace European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has eluded the European Union leaders at their summit in Brussels
“We need more time to discuss the whole landscape and this is why we will go back to this issue at the end of June. Today it is too early to prejudge names and the post,” EU Council President Donald Tusk remarked wearily at the late night press conference.
The admission comes after frenzied meetings leading up to and during the summit this Thursday.
The leaders will meet again on June the 30th to continue the negotiations.
While the race for the EU’s top job will be vital for the EU for the next five years, there’s also been pressing issues of the day for the leaders to discuss here at the summit.
Turkey
With Turkey drilling in for oil in what the EU considers to be the waters of member state Cyrpus, the leaders opened the door for targeted sanctions against Ankara.
They say Turkey’s actions are illegal and will cause serious damage to relations with the EU.
Leaders also agreed that sanctions against Russia over the annexation of Crimea are to be extended for another 6 months.
Green protest
Despite pressure from the UN and a visual protest this week from green lobbyists in Brussels. The EU couldn’t fully to commit to reaching net zero emissions by 2050 risking the collapse of the Paris Climate Agreement.
Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Estonia held it up a commitment. Warsaw especially is worried about the effect on Poland’s coal producing regions.
“Today, there are 24 member states that are in favor of the neutrality carbon 2050 goal. So when we fight, when we move forward, we manage to expand the club, we get to grips with it, we manage to make progress, to give credibility to our commitment to the Paris agreement.
The implementation of the Paris agreement is absolutely essential,” French President Emmanuel Macron explained.
The two-day summit continues with leaders turning their focus to Brexit and the future of the eurozone.
