ON TUESDAY, European Union (EU) leaders agreed in principle on a new team to lead the Brussels-based club into the 2020s after a battle royale to carve up the top positions. The reason why it took five weeks and three summits, rather than the intended one, to agree on the new office bearers is that there is now massive pressure on them to successfully guide the 500 million population bloc's future strategic agenda at a time of potentially intensifying troubles.

Two women have top roles: Germany's Ursula von der Leyen, a defence minister in Angela Merkel's Cabinet and a EU federalist, has been proposed for the European Commission president's role; International Monetary Fund (IMF) head Christine Lagarde, formerly a member of Nicolas Sarkozy's French administration, has been nominated to become chief of the European Central bank.

Meanwhile, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel is proposed for the president of the European Council, and Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell as EU foreign policy chief.