Merkel urges EU leaders to agree fast on Commission presidency nominee

Reuters

27 May 2019 at 2:26 pm

German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives to a meeting with Costa Rica's President Carlos Alvarado Quesada at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, May 27, 2019. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel urged EU leaders on Monday to agree fast on a nominee for the post of European Comission president, saying her government backed the idea of naming a "Spitzenkandidat" from a winning party.

"We want to find a solution as soon as possible given that the European Parliament will convene at the start of June and it is naturally desirable if by that time we have a proposal from the European Council," Merkel told a news conference.

She said both her conservatives and their Social Democrat junior coalition partners back the idea of 'Spitzenkandidat,' a mechanism that France has said won't be automatic and on which a majority vote is possible.

(Reporting by Andreas Rinke; Writing by Joseph Nasr; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

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