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The agreement to replace European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker could take longer according to some European diplomats. Eric Vidal / AFP

The European Council officially begins this Thursday afternoon. The twenty-eight must in particular agree on the candidatures for the key posts of the European Union. Donald Tusk, the current President of the Council, said he is optimistic, he hopes that the twenty-eight will reach an agreement during the day. France certainly displays its will to move quickly, but no solution seemed in sight Wednesday. Once the key issue of Jean-Claude Juncker's successor resolves the process will go quickly, but Paris veto the EPP candidate on the presidency of the Commission, the German Manfred Weber, who does not have the necessary experience according to the Elysee. A puzzle at a few hours of the Council.

With our special correspondent in Brussels, Juliette Gheerbrant

Manfred Weber would he become the man of the Franco-German discord? Even if the Élysée explains that it is not a question of person or nationality, even if Paris and Berlin do not have the monopoly of the decisions, it is the main point of blocking. And as long as an agreement is not reached on the Commission presidency, no piece of the European puzzle will be put in place.

If Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has always supported it, renounces the candidacy of Manfred Weber, then it is unlikely to support the French Michel Barnier, unofficial candidacy, but deemed " credible " by the Elysee.

Another candidate who will have difficulty finding a majority without the support of the EPP (center-right), which is excluded, the Dutch Frans Timmermans , official candidate of the Socialists and Democrats group.

Would Denmark's Margrethe Vestager have a better chance of consensus? The Commissioner of Competition is a member of the centrist group Renew Europe (RE).

But other names are circulating, such as that of the Belgian Charles Michel, that of the Bulgarian Kristalina Georgieva at the head of the World Bank, or that of the Lithuanian president at the end of the term Dalia Grybauskaite.

The minimum objective of the Council for the Elysee is to find four consensual candidates for key positions in the EU.

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