The new top jobs in Europe

EMMANUEL MACRON is having a good summer. In July, at his urging, leaders of the European Union’s member states picked Ursula von der Leyen, then the German defence minister, to be president of the European Commission. In a package deal Christine Lagarde, the French head of the IMF, was chosen to lead the European Central Bank; Charles Michel, the Belgian prime minister and a Macron ally, got the European Council presidency; and Josep Borrell, Spain’s Francophone foreign minister, will be the EU’s next high representative for foreign affairs. Having narrowly won her confirmation vote in the European Parliament, on September 10th Mrs von der Leyen presented her proposed line-up of commissioners at the Berlaymont building in Brussels. It was another good day for the French president.