Deadlock at EU over who will succeed Juncker

Divisions within the EU over who should succeed Jean-Claude Juncker as head of the bloc’s executive have been brutally exposed in Brussels.

In a rare public disagreement, Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, and president Emmanuel Macron of France were at loggerheads over the vacancy. It came as EU leaders looked set to collide with the European parliament over the appointment of a new European Commission president.

Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, emerged as a compromise candidate but his chances were ruled out by MEPs, who must back the eventual appointment by a majority.

The deadlock could foment a constitutional crisis and paralyse the Brussels machinery if MEPs refuse to back whichever candidate is eventually chosen by the European Council.

It could mean Juncker may have to continue in a caretaker role, leaving the EU unable to push forward with new initiatives until the impasse is resolved.

EU leaders, including Theresa May in her penultimate Brussels summit, met in the Europa building for opening discussions over who would lead the commission for the next five years.

Phone signals were jammed in the meeting room to prevent heads of state and government leaking details, as leaders moved to assert their sole right to name the president.

In a bid to head off discord, the talks centred on what profile the candidate should have, rather than on individuals.

Under discussion was whether or not to repeat the “Spitzenkandidat method” of choosing a commission president, which ties the job to European election results, with each political group nominating a lead candidate.

The group with the most votes gets to put their favoured choice in office. This was the system used to appoint Juncker in 2014.

Donald Tusk, the European Council president, said there would be no such automatic link this time round, while leaders including Macron made it clear they wanted the EU’s experiment with “direct democracy” to end.

As he arrived at the summit, Macron pointedly refused to name Manfred Weber, the Spitzenkandidat for the centreright European People’s Party.

The European Parliament is itself divided – the recent elections fragmented support for traditional centrist parties, rendering them unable to form a joint majority in the 751-seat parliament.

Voters deserted the two main groups, forcing them into alliances with the Greens and Liberals who, dominated by Macron’s party and as third largest group, find themselves kingmakers.

Leaders made it clear they wanted the EU’s experiment with ‘direct democracy’ to end