Good morning from Brussels, Although not officially on the agenda, the leaders of Germany, France and Italy are expected to hold the first talks about the EU’s next top jobs at a G7 meeting in Italy’s Bari before a dinner next Monday in Brussels with other EU leaders. A package deal circulating in Brussels suggests a second term for Ursula von der Leyen as European Commission president, Portugal’s Socialist Prime Minister António Costa as European Council chief and Maltese MEP and incumbent European Parliament President Roberta Metsola returning to her role. The EU’s top diplomat job is slated for a liberal politician and could fall to Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas or even Belgium’s outgoing counterpart Alexander De Croo. Politically, contrary to pre-election projections, a quick package deal could not be ruled out. French President Emmanuel Macron is facing an internal battle, and a deal on the EU top jobs before the first round of the parliamentary elections on 30 June may be in his interest. EPP sources tell Euractiv that Macron will seek to be “constructive” and avoid “creating a front” with Brussels given the turmoil at home. For his part, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz feels political pressure in Berlin after scoring behind the centre-right CDU and far-right AfD in the EU elections. Moreover, his coalition partners are setting conditions for supporting EPP candidate Ursula von der Leyen’s nomination. Italy’s Giorgia Meloni has said it’s “too early” to discuss the case of von der Leyen, with sources suggesting that she eyes a big portfolio in the next executive. But what could happen still to prevent von der Leyen? Alexandra Brzozowski and Alessia Peretti report from Bari. Meanwhile, in Lisbon, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said Prime Minister Luís Montenegro did “the right thing” in clarifying the government’s support for António Costa’s possible candidacy for the presidency of the European Council. On the G7 agenda, though, other difficult topics are on the table: A deal on a plan to use the windfall profits from the interest on €300 billion of immobilised Russian central bank assets to provide Ukraine with a large up-front loan as well as China’s support for Russia. Read the whole story. At a conference in Berlin, political decision-makers and business leaders focused on renewable energy as a key solution to secure Kyiv’s electricity supply. Nathan Canas has the details. | 