BRUSSELS — Following the elections for EU Parliament, European Union leaders have agreed on the officials who will hold the key positions in the world's biggest trading bloc in the coming years for issues ranging from antitrust investigations to foreign policy.
The three nominees will lead the EU's powerful executive branch — the European Commission — and the forum where the 27 member countries are represented, the European Council, with the final nominee being the bloc's top diplomat.
The Associated Press takes a look at who they are, and what they do.
Ursula von der Leyen
The 65-year-old German politician has been endorsed for a second term as president of the powerful European Commission. Her bid was boosted when the center-right European People's Party, which includes von der Leyen's Christian Democratic Union, remained the largest group at the EU Parliament.
Von der Leyen has been praised for her leading role during the COVID-19 crisis, when the EU bought vaccines collectively for its citizens. But she also found herself receiving sharp criticism for the opacity of the negotiations with vaccine makers.
Von der Leyen has also embodied the EU's plans to become climate neutral by 2050, but her commitment to the Green Deal policies has been questioned in the buildup to the European elections as the EU seemed cautious not to antagonize farmers who argued that EU environmental and climate laws were driving them toward bankruptcy.
Under the EU treaties, the head of the European Commission sets the EU executive arm's policy agenda, represents the commission in European Council meetings, G7 and G20 summits, summits with non-EU countries and major debates in the European Parliament and the Council. The European Commission leads trade negotiations and polices competition.
