EU leaders at odds in search of 'Mr or Ms Europe'

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron disagreed on Tuesday over who should be the next chief of the European Commission as EU leaders began bargaining over names for the bloc's top jobs in the next five years.

A bloc-wide election last week returned a European Parliament with a splintered centre and gains by pro-EU liberals and Greens as well as eurosceptic nationalists and the far right, making a common agenda harder.
"We won't choose Mr. or Ms. Europe today, but just draw a balance after the European election," Luxembourg's liberal prime minister, Xavier Bettel, said on arriving to talks among all 28 national leaders in Brussels.
Held once every five years, the European Union election means the heads of major EU institutions will now be replaced.
Merkel said on arrival at the gathering that she backed centre-right German...