Timmermans faces Eastern resistance for top EU job; search for ECB head postponed

FILE PHOTO: European Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans, candidate of the Party of European Socialists (PES), speaks at the Plenary Hall during the election night for European elections at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, May 27, 2019. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir/File Photo

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Dutch socialist Frans Timmermans has emerged as the favourite to be named the EU's next chief executive, diplomats and officials said on Sunday ahead of a summit in Brussels, but faces resistance from eastern European countries.

EU leaders were also meant to choose the next president of the European Central Bank (ECB), but that decision seems now likely to be postponed for lack of consensus.