The leaders’ meeting was the first since the European Parliament election, which saw gains for the center-right and right-wing nationalists but humiliating defeats for French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Over dinner in Brussels, the EU’s 27 national leaders discussed who should run the powerful European Commission executive body, who should chair their European Council meetings, and who should take the post of foreign policy chief.

An EU official, on condition of anonymity, told Politico that “while negotiators agreed on three names, leaders will continue discussions at a later date, presumably at their next meeting on June 27–28.”

They had been widely expected to nominate Ursula von der Leyen of Germany for a second term as European Commission chief, Portuguese ex-premier António Costa as Council president, and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas as top diplomat.

But the current European Council president, Charles Michel, said they needed more time.

“It was a good conversation; (it) goes in the right direction, I think. But there is no agreement tonight,” he told reporters after the dinner.

Michel said pan-European political parties had made proposals about the posts, and more work would be needed to reach an agreement. He did not elaborate on the proposals.

Von der Leyen remains in pole position to stay on as European Commission president, buoyed by gains in the June 6–9 elections for her center-right European People’s Party.

Thirteen of the 27 EU leaders are from parties belonging to the EPP. With French and German support too, she would have the qualified majority required to be nominated.